Manipulation of the Shadows
by Agent Eye
Summary: Sequel to Distortion of the Shadows: It's been 10 years since the incidents before, however Distortions are one thing. Means power is disrupted, in this case the shadows. However when something has the power to Manipulate shadows its something to worry ab
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

Authors note: Here it is! The beginning of the sequel. I am not entirely sure on somethings however I can post the first chapter for sure. It is a tad short but you guys know I start short and get longer as I go.

We Egyptians will probably be portrayed as a Polytheistic society in future times but I am here to let you know this is not so. Many Egyptian philosopher have had interesting ideas. A group of Egyptian and I developed theories involving a higher deity. For those who find this will know that Egypt has many deities. However, the gods are powerful and we have to yet to figure out a reason for why they would not attack us in a rampage and enslave us. This is one of the main evidence we can say to prove there is a higher deity that is above the gods. More powerful than Ra, more deadlier than Anubis, more destructive than Horus. We also can assume that is a single deity and not a group for a group would lead to argument leading to separation, meaning the powers of time and space would be divided and great wars would be fought. So we know there is 1 deity. A deity that can control all the other gods. We have come to describe more of a patient person, and uncorrupted for as he could rule over the gods, thus rule everything in existence. However, why does this deity not smite us? Why does it not smite the gods? What is its purpose? We have assumed it to be the father of the gods, a creature to control them from going corrupt. Me and my colleagues are near breakthrough of this discovery soon I shall be able to expand my vast knowledge unto future generations and we can finally solve the mystery of the gods!

"Nifty eh?" said Proffessor Banner to Chancellor Shepard. It had been a while since he had dealt with all of these Egyptian business. And seeing these 3 archeologist here didn't make it easier. Even though it had been a decade since the last encounter with any shadow magic or Egyptian magic, it still worried the now old Shepard. Shepard stared into the archeologist in front of him. Two guys and a girls. They seemed to be in their thirties. One of the guys was taller than other two. He had dark hair with a light gray eye color. He seemed to be in well shape as he stood strong and tall. _He has an "All-knowing" look in his eyes _thought Shepard . _But it is not a show-off kind of face, it seems more of a face of knowledge and patience…_ The other guy, however, was different. He seemed in good shape, perhaps a tad less than the other feller, however he had a smirk in his face. You could almost _see_ the immaturity and difference between him and the other one. Lastly, the girl was very beautiful. She had long blond hair, with light green eyes. A smooth smile in her face was all she showed.

"So what exactly did you just read to me?" asked Chancellor Shepard.

"It was an old hieroglyph that was found in Egypt a few months ago. " said the girl. "It seems that there was a strange group Egypt that called apparently was mono-theistic. They wrote this in one of the Pyramids."  
"So why are you here instead of being at that pyramid? I bet you could find tons more information there." Said Chancellor Shepard.

"That pyramid was destroyed in what scientist agree was a "freak of nature"." Answered the girl. This caught the Chancellor's attention.

"What happened to the Pyramid?"

"Well, according to the scientist, a mass amount of thunder storm clouds have been pushed together by a strange wind- phenomenon then with so many electrons put together they all released a "synchronized" lightning aiming at the same spot. So a giant lightning strike, about 1000 times stronger than a normal lightning, stroked the pyramid. Destroying most things, except this particular hieroglyph." Said the girl.

"So why are you here?" asked Chancellor Shepard. The girl was about to answer by Banner spoke first.

"Let me do it Sarah. " said Banner moving his hand gesturing a "relax". "You see, Sarah and her colleagues had deciphered that some of the strange group who were monotheistic ran away from Egypt in fear they had made a great mistake. They left ran away from Egypt till they arrived to the sea. There they made ships till they could find another land away from the gods. They found this Island and establish themselves here."

"And what did they do here?" asked Chancellor Shepard. This time, however, the guy with the gray eyes answered.

"You see, in this island they had decided to find more on their ultimate deity. They had come to the conclusion that the god was located in the place where no one would look." Said the guy.

"And where would that be?" asked Shepard.

"Well, seeing as the ultimate deity is uncorrupted and infinitively good, the last place an Egyptian would look is the place of all evil to them. That place being the Shadow Realm." The guy was extremely calm, however Shepard winced at the word. He still had his memories about what had happened ten years ago, along with the disappearance of a certain Tyriel Stone.

"I am afraid there is no Shadow Realm nonsense in this school. So if you could kindly leave…" Chancellor Shepard said with some fear in his voice. There were a couple of sad faces among the group, however the man with gray eyes remained the same. He was about to say something but Banner interrupted again.

"Let me have a talk with the Chancellor, okay Artemis?" said Banner as the man with gray eyes nodded. Chancellor and Banner started a conversation in whisper.

"C'mon Chancellor, they come such a long way and I promised them that-"whispered Banner but he was interrupted.

"NO! Remember what happened 10 years ago?" he said in the loudest whisper ever.

"Easy Chancellor" whispered Banner "remember that happened long time ago, remember all the evil guys are gone. These guys are just doing research."

"They got 3 weeks. And that's final." Whispered Chancellor Shepard.

"Deal." Whispered Banner.

"Okay then, Proffessor Banner has convinced me to allow you 3 weeks to do what you want." Said Shepard then the other guy shouted Yes! Everybody looked at him.

"I knew I was your favorite student Prof." said the guy.

"You failed my class Matt…" said Proffessor Banner.

"True, but you can't say we had very interesting discussions"

"You mean comparing Magician of Faith's dress to Lady of Faith's dress?" said Banner. Then it was an awkward silence.

"Yeah… There are couple of things I need for you guys to be careful of: First thing, remember there are students here and they might get curious, however I don't want them involved in any of this. Secondly, I would give you the best rooms we got… however they are filled so we will give you some rooms in Ra Yellow. Lastly, there are going to be old duelist coming for a couple of week, be courteous to them." This caught Banner's attention.

"Who are we expecting Chancellor?" asked Banner.

"Have you forgotten already? Remember every decade we call the duelist from 10 years ago, and open up the big time capsule that everyone contributed to at the end of the year."

"But Chancellor! The World Championships are going on right now! No one will show up!" said Banner preoccupied.

"Sure they will. At least some will. In any case they should be arriving today. What time is it professor?" asked Shepard.

"One PM sir." Answered Banner. Then Chancellor Shepard looked worried.

"Then they should be here in about half an hour."

"Are they all coming in the same boat?"

"Yes, but the funny part is that they were set into different rooms so they don't know who's in the boat. It will be great. Gentleman and Miss, would you like to come and greet the duelist?" asked Shepard. They murmured something between them and then agreed.


	2. Artemis' Majestic Mech's

Chapter 2 

_Almost there _thought 25-year-old Alexis Rhodes as she stared from her window into the sea. She noticed the Duelist Academy was insight. She was wearing a short, white mini-skirt with matching white shirt, similar to her old uniform. She was also wearing a certain golden key around her neck. She decided to leave her room, and to head towards the front part of the boat. She slowly walked towards the boat, surprised to see someone standing watching DA. He was holding the rail as he stared into the Island. He was wearing red pants with a matching red shirt, similar to the Slifer red uniform. She slowly walked towards the stranger and stood next to him, both watching the island.

"Alexis?" a familiar voice said. Alexis turned around to notice a certain brown-haired man with brown eyes. It immediately triggered his identity in her mind.

"Jaden?" asked Alexis. He smiled. He still had his goofy smile, which made Alexis smile.

"Hey Alexis! It's so great to see you again!" he said as he hugged her. He slowly let go of her as she smiled even more.

"Its nice to see you again Jaden. How's life been?" she asked casually.

"Eh." Was his only answer.

"Eh?" she asked. It didn't sound too good of an answer for her.

"Well, I guess its been great."

"You guess?" she asked, still wondering if something was wrong.

"Well, its okay. I competed in Nationals this year! Lot's of cookie cutters though." He said.

"So I see you went and became a pro duelist. What place you ended up?"

"6th. Pretty good, in my opinion." He said without much happiness to his voice.

"That's great, you qualify World's. So have you kept in contact with anyone from DA?"

"Yeah, Bastion and I have talked here and there. He is even more smarter than he was before, if that was possible." He said, smiling this time.

"That's great. So how are things with Christy?" she asked, quickly regretting he had as he noticed Jaden's expression. It was silent for a couple of seconds then he started to speak again.  
"Not so good." He said, tightening his grip on the rail. "We broke up a month ago. Well, more like she broke up with me, but she was kind enough to not do in a rash way." He said taking a deep breath, with a long sigh following it.

"I am sorry." Was all Alexis could say. She wasn't even sure what else to say.

"It's okay. I been slowly dealing with it. You should have seen me a month ago, I was wreck." Said Jaden with a fake smile.

"So how'd you get over it? Did Syrus helped you?" she asked.

"No. Syrus did help, but he wasn't much. Bastion really helped me out though. He puts things through a logical point of view and it makes it seem better. I hope he is on the boat." He said as he slowly released his grip on the rail.

"So you and Bastion have become great friends eh?" she said.

"Yeah. Really cool guy. So has the Key done anything strange these last 10 years?" said Jaden as he pointed towards the key. _Ahh…the key. _Thought Alexis as she remembered the events of a decade ago. She could see herself in the darkness, staring at a half-frozen Tyriel.

_Flashback_

_"Argh! Listen to me, it's too late, you guys have to go NOW!" shouted Tyriel_

"_No!" shouted Alexis_

"_Listen Alexis, you have to go now!" then Tyriel noticed Mobius was lifting his arm again to shot another blast. "I will never forget you!"_

_"Tyriel! Promise me you will be back" shouted Alexis as he hugged him, putting her hands just a tad above the ice that was around his thigh_.

"_I…I will try…"_

_/Flashback _

Ever since then, she had been wondering if he would ever come back. She knew the most probable answer was a no, but hey, everyone needs hope.

"It glows once in while. Mostly when something with Tyriel comes up." She said staring into the Island.

"So why hasn't it glowed now?" asked Jaden. She looked down and notice it wasn't glowing.

"It glows when it wants to. I guess." She said trying to avoid thinking of the past.

"We are almost there. Might as well grab my stuff, I will see you later?" she said as she started walking away.

"Yeah…later." He said as went his own way.

….

The boat slowly stopped at the docks as Chancellor Shepard, Professor Banner along with their archeologist guest stared into the large boat arriving. The boat unloaded its loading ramp then a group of duelist starting walk down. There were around 10, they all greeted Chancellor Shepard and Banner, as well as the guest's. Jaden walked towards one of the duelist wearing jeans and a yellow shirt. He had a goatee, with dark hair.

"Bastion! You made it!" said Jaden.

"Indeed. I am quite joyous to be here." Said Bastion greetings his friend. Then they noticed a person coming, he dark blue pants and a red shirt similar to Jaden's. He had large, not long however, blue hair. He also wore small glasses.

"Hey Jaden, Bastion, so nice to see you guys again!" said the bluenette.

"Syrus, is that you? Wow you grown!" said Bastion.

"Yeah. It's about time," he answered. "How have things been with you guys?"

"Pretty good for me, I managed to become an expert on Card Strategies and Combos. How about you Syrus?" asked Bastion.

"I became a pro-duelist. I got 13th place at Nationals, so I am happy. How about you Jaden?"

"I also became a pro-duelist, I got 6th place at Nationals, nice try." Said Jaden as he was happy his buddy was back.

"So where is your brother Syrus?" asked Bastion.

"Well since he won Nationals, he decided to go World's rather than coming to DA. He thought no one would come. Looks like he was wrong. " said Syrus smiling. Then he felt someone's hand in his shoulder, which scared making him jump forward. He turned around to see Alexis laughing.

"Syrus! It's so great to see you!" she said with her happy tone.

"Its great to see you too, but you scared the boojangles out of me!"

"Boojangles?" she asked, with some giggles.

"Eh. Why not?" he said nervously. The group laughed as they Chancellor Shepard showed them where they would be staying, each in different rooms and told them that the tour would start in a hour. The group slowly diminished till there was only Bastion, Alexis, Syrus, Jaden, another Duelist with short red-hair, and the 3 archelogist. As they were walking they noticed a duel just finished.

"Ha you suck. Slifer Slacker." Said one of the kids. It seemed to be an older Obelisk blue student who had dueled a younger Slifer student.

"Hey! Watch your language young man." Said Chancellor Shepard. "Just because you are very good player, doesn't give you the right to insult other ones.

"Very good? I am the best. I can take down anyone at this academy!" he shouted confidently.

"Let me at him!" shouted Jaden, urging to duel. However, Artemis held him back.

"No my friend, I am afraid pride should not defeat pride. Also, you are guest, I am sure the boat ride here was tiring, so allow me to defeat him." Said Artemis.

"I don't even know you?" said Jaden confused.

"My name is Artemis, now if you could excuse me…" said Artemis as he walked towards the young man. "If you can defeat me, then I will make you graduate early."

"Serious? I would be a legend, oh you are on." Said the young man.

"Alright, but only in two conditions: If I win, you will stop messing with the kids around here, and I need your name in order to duel you."

"The name is Kevin, and lets start!" he said. However there was a discussion from the sidelines.

"Who does this guy think he is?" whispered Jaden to the group. "He comes from out of nowhere, and tries to be the hero."

"Yeah, it is odd." whispered Alexis.

"He must be awfully confident in order to put up a promise he can't keep." Whispered Bastion.

"Don't you worry. Artemis will handle him pretty good" said another whispered as they turned to see another person in their circle.

"Who are you?" said Syrus.

"My name is Matt, Artemis and I are archeologist, visiting here for a certain reason. Anyhow, if there is anyone who can handle this stuck up brat, is Artemis." Said Matt.

"Did you forget me?" said another whisper, as Sarah got in the conversation.

"Sarah, who could forget you?" he said with a smile.

"Aw. Cute. I don't think I ever seen Artemis duel." She said.

"Well you have only known him for about a month." Said matt.

"True."

"Shush, they are starting." Said Syrus as they watched the duel.

"Ha I will play Luster Dragon in attack mode!" said Kevin as a sapphire dragon appeared on his side of field. It sapphire wings flapped beautifully as it got to the field. "I will also set a card. End"

"Not bad. However not good enough " said Artemis as he drew" I play Majestic Mech- Ohka." Then pink mist appeared in the field as horse-like monster appeared on the field. It had white skin with pink stripes. It looked almost metallic. It had wings as well.

"Wait a minute! How did you summon that 6-star monster without a tribute?" asked Kevin.

"Majestic Mech- Ohka's effect allows me to summon it without a tribute, however if I summon it this way then it is automatically destroyed at the end of my turn, and that that's all I need to last for. Majestic Mech- Ohka, destroy his Luster Dragon!" said Artemis as Ohka blasted a white blast towards the dragon, destroying it completely.

Artemis: 4000

Kevin: 3500

"I will set a card and end my turn." Said Artemis. Just as he finished his words his monster self-destructed.

"Ha, you are empty. And if you think I am worried of your face-down card. You are sadly mistaken. I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down magic or trap!" said Kevin as a typhoon appeared and blew Artemis's Forced Back trap card into the graveyard.

"A pity" said Red-head duelist.

"huh?" said Syrus.

"Forced Back would have allowed him to send Kevin's monster back to the hand, preventing any damage, and now he is wide open." Said the same duelist.

"So who are you?" asked Syrus.

"My name is Cain. I used to go to this school a while back, I have heard of your adventures."

"Shush, duel now." Said Syrus.

"I hope you are ready, because you are about to take some serious damage. I play Premature Burial, and summon my monster back from the grave at the mere cost of 800 life points." Said Kevin as a hole opened and Luster Dragon flew up. "Then I will tribute my monster for Kaiser Glider!" As the dragon appeared, it slowly disappeared as a seemingly metallic-gold dragon appeared. It beat its wing crazily as it appeared. "Now Kaiser Glider, attack him directly!" The dragon beat it's wings and went straight for Artemis, knocking him down. However, he remained as calm as ever.

Artemis: 1600

Kevin: 2700

Artemis slowly stood up, and dusted off any dirt he gotten.

"Good shot, however, not good enough." Said Artemis as he drew. "You see, I know Kaiser Glider's special effect of destroying of sending a monster back to the hand whenever it is destroyed. However, that is not enough to save you."

"Save me? Ha!" said Kevin as he laughed at his opponent.  
"You seem to misunderstand me. You are about to lose the duel." Said Artemis.

"Ha! This guy is a big joker. How are you going to take down Kaiser Glider AND all my lifepoints?" said Kevin. _Especially with my face-down card. _Thought Kevin.

"Yes. I play Double Spell. This spell card allows me to send to another spell to the graveyard and I am allowed to take a spell card from your graveyard and use it as my own." Said Artemis.

"Go ahead. Kaiser Glider is still all-powerful." Said Kevin confidently.

"It wont be for long. I shall use your Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your face-down card!" said Artemis as the same typhoon that destroyed his face-down Forced Back, destroyed Kevin's face-down Mirror Force. "That's an awfully rare card. How did you obtain it?"

"My parent's get me any card I want! That is why you won't win!" said Kevin.

"Spoiled, I see. However, not even that will save you from your defeat. I play Brain Control! With it I will take control your Kaiser Glider at the cost of 800 life point." Said Artemis as the dragon came to it's side.

"It is not strong enough to take me down!" shouted Kevin.

"I will tribute it then, for Majestic Mech- Goryu!" said Artemis as the dragon disappeared a giant snake-like monster appeared. It had metal rings on its body, with a giant oval head at the top. It had wings that look metallic.

"That's an 8 star monster! How did you summon it with only 1 tribute?" asked Kevin.

"Just like Ohka, Majestic Mech-Goryu allows me to summon with only 1 tribute, however it will be destroyed at the end of the turn. Too bad you wont last that long. Goryu, destroy him! Blast from the heavens!" commanded Kevin then Majestic Mech-Goryu sent a blast so powerful it knocked Kevin down to the floor, and pushed him across the ground.

Artemis: 800

Kevin: 0

"Good game." He said simply as he walked towards the crew.

"How did I lose? You must have cheated! I will get my revenge!" he shouted.

"I did not cheat. And you lost. Now keep to your promise or else. Chancellor, please pardon the disruption." Said Artemis

"It's alright Artemis, let's go." Said Chancellor Shepard as he continued taking everybody to their rooms.

"Hey, you guys can all come to my room and we can have a party afterwards, if you guys want." Offered Matt.

"Yeah, that'd be great!" said Alexis.

"Alright, we will do it at night. After the tour 'kay?" asked Matt. Everybody agreed.


	3. Party

Chapter 3-

A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated. A friend of mine showed me this website with tons of anime, so I gotten addicted to a Chobits and Love Hina and been watching them instead of updating. So sorry! In order to make up for it, I made an unusually long chapter this time. This is a pain. Everytime you see the word "Hiccups" imagine Hiccups with Stars on the front and the end. So they litteraly dont say Hiccup, its just the action.

"Dragons have always been very powerful creatures from the beginning" said one of the teachers as the group was checking it out the class. They were all interested in his speech on Dragons.

"This is the history of Duel Monsters, it teaches what each types past is and other things that separate the fiction from the non fiction." whispered Chancellor Shepard as the teacher continued.

"Dragon are famous for their fire breath. While most dragon's fire breath is merely fire, other dragon's fire breath could be enchanted with magic, like Horus the Black Flame's fire breath is tainted with dark magic. Dragons are also one of the most loyal creatures, at least some of them. Take a look at Fiend Skull Dragon " said the teacher as he clicked a button in the computer and it showed a picture of a dragon.(As you all know from Distortion of the Shadows, I am horrible at describing things so here is a picture. http/auction4. started to speak Artemis.  
"Wickedly evil?" finished Matt.

"No, something about it…" said Artemis but he didn't finish. The lecturer simply continued.

"Fiend Skull Dragon's fire is tainted by dark magic, and even then is not as powerful for a dragon of his caliber. This dragon has been known in history as the Loyal Dragon. Many people tend to hate him, merely because it extremely hard to obtain his loyalty. However those who have, it is said that dragon would give his life in protecting the being who's loyal to. As you can tell its paws are…" however the teacher was interrupted as the door t the class opened and two figures entered. It was Professor Banner and a certain lady. As they entered there were several wolf's whistles, and for good reason too. The lady, couldn't be more than 25, was very good looking. Wearing a small black skirt, with a white t-shirt, with an unbuttoned red t-shirt. She had long blond hair, and with light yellow eyes and big grin. Chancellor Shepard calmed down the class, as he and the group walked towards Banner and beautiful stranger.

"Banner, what exactly is going on?" asked Chancellor Shepard.

"Oh sorry about that Chancellor, it seems there was trouble in the docks, back in Japan. There seems to have been a mixed up and one duelist could not be taken." explained Banner.

"That's wonderful, so who do we have here?"

"It's Christy Pichu! Remember?" said Banner and then Shepard remember.

"Oh yeah! Welcome back!" said Chancellor Shepard as he hugged Christy. Matt was eyeing Christy, even Artemis took a good look. Jaden managed to smile, and both Sara and Alexis looked at each other with an "Oh, brother" face. Alexis walked up to Christy with a smile.

"Christy," she started to say "sure has been a long time." She said. Christy smiled.

"It sure has." she said as she hugged her friend. Then they all greeted her, even Jaden.

"So who are these folks?" she asked.

"I'll tell you later, after this speech." Said Alexis. The whole group remained quite, as the lecturer finished his speech.

It was already late in the afternoon. So the group left, and Alexis walked with Christy, because she had offered to showed Christy her room.

"So who are they?" Christy asked as they walked.

"Oh. They are some archeologists. I am not sure why they are here." Said Alexis casually.

"What are their names?" she asked.

"Matt is the goofy looking one, Sara is the chick." Said Alexis.

"What about the one dueling?" asked Christy.

"Oh. I think his name is Artemis" said Alexis, and as soon as she said it, the Millennium Key glowed. They stopped walking. "Whoa."

"What?" Christy asked.

"The Millennium Key…it just glowed." She said in disbelief.

"I am guessing it doesn't do that too often." Christy said.

"Yeah, it's rather strange." said Alexis "So I heard from Jaden that you two broke up?" Christy stopped walking.

"Yeah." was all she said.

"Why?" asked Alexis.

"Just because." she answered.

"People don't just break up with other people "just because"." said Alexis, losing a little patient. It was an awkward silent.

"I don't know!" shouted Christy, breaking the silence. "I felt… he didn't care much about me."

"What made you think that?" asked Alexis.

"It's not exactly that. It's just… I think he likes dueling over me."

"WHAT?" it was Alexis' turn to shout. "What could ever give you that idea?"

"Simple. Every time I talked to him, it was always about dueling, dueling and occasionally dueling. At first I didn't mind, but then it happened."

"What happened?" asked Alexis, caught in the suspense.

"Nationals. It was the same day as my birthday. I was expecting him to call the day before, asking me to go somewhere for my birthday. However, the call never came. So I decided to call him.

Flashback

"Hello, Jaden?" said Christy to the telephone while in her room.

"Christy? Hey! What's up?" he asked with his goofy voice.

"Umm…What are you doing tomorrow?" she asked. Hoping he would say he was going to spend the day with her.

"Nationals are tomorrow. I can't miss them. I been practicing for a while. It'll probably take me the whole day. I gotta go okay? Bye." and just like that Jaden hanged up.

End of Flashback

"That's horrible." said Alexis, in a sad tone.

"Yeah…" said Christy in a sad tone as well. Alexis quickly tried to change the subject.

"Anyhow, apparently, Matt is having some sort of small party or something. You wanna come?" she asked.

"Yeah, when?" Christy responded.

"Looks like in half an hour. "

"Ooh! I better get ready unpack things fast I guess. I will see you there then." Said Christy as she ran to her room. _Sigh… I pity her, what Jaden did was horrible. What happen with the Millennium Key back there… that was odd _thought Alexis as she got to her room. She looked at it. A rather large bed, with a nice nightstand to the right. A mirror in the front, with some cabinets under it. She lied on her bed, and looked at the roof. _Could he have anything to do with Tyriel? _She wondered to herself. She merely sighed once more and got ready for the "party".

…

Alexis was casually dressed up, as she went to Matt's room. As she arrived she noticed everyone, except Syrus and Bastion, were there.

"Fashionably late?" asked Christy with a smile. She was sitting in one of the small sofa's that is supposed for one people, however you can fit more than one. While Cain and Jaden were sitting in some chairs, next to Christy. Then perpendicular to Christy, and a tad to the other side, was a large 3 person sofa, that obviously could fit more where Artemis, Matt and Sara were sitting. In middle of everybody was a glass table. Alexis just grabbed another chair and sat next to Cain.

"So I don't think we been properly introduced Ms. Rhodes." Said Artemis.

"Oh, you can call me Alexis, you are Artemis right?"

"Artemis Shyst, at your service." He said, and just as he finished the Millennium Key glowed. Then it started shaking like crazy. It started to flow as well pointing towards Artemis, still shaking.

"Whoa, what is that?" he asked intrigued.

"It's the Millennium Key" said Alexis, trying to stop the key from shaking.

"You have a Millennium item?" Matt said totally shocked.

"It appears so, Matt." Said Artemis as he went to examine. The moment he touched it, it stop glowing and shaking and it stopped floating. "That was odd. Hmm… Let me get you all some wine. Hey Matt, can you help me out?"

"Yeah sure." Said Matt as he stood up and they walked to the counter to serve some wine.

"A Millennium item, a rare find eh?" said Artemis.

"Yeah. Very rare." Said Matt as he poured some wine in to the wine glasses(A/N Goblets?). "What do you want me to do about it? Take it?"

"Of course not. We have to know how she managed to get one." He said. "C'mon let's go." They took the wine glasses back to the room and gave them to everyone.

"Hmm, I still have yet to know your name." said Artemis, pointing towards Cain.

"Oh. I am Cain Fargo. " he said kindly.

"Hmm I don't recall seeing you in this school…" said Alexis as she took a sip of wine.

"That is because I never gone to it." Said Cain simply as he took some of the wine.

"So how are you here?" said Alexis, savoring the taste of the wine in her lips. _This is really good wine _thought Alexis.

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I have heard of your great adventures Alexis, I wanted to meet the great adventurer in person." said Cain with a smile as he took a good amount of wine. "You are more than I expected." Alexis blushed.

"Thanks. A pity I haven't heard of you," said Alexis "You sound like a very interesting person."

"So how did you all meet?" Jaden asked Artemis. Artemis took a big sip of his wine glass, allowing Matt to explain.

"Artemis and I have been buddies for awhile. We studied together in archeology and developed our degrees at the same time. We decided to go investigate tombs and what not together rather than alone." said Matt.

"What about Sara?" said Jaden, pointing his eyes towards Sara, who was drinking her wine awfully fast.

"We met her a month ago. It turns out she was interested in some of the things here in Duelist Academy, mostly the archeology things." responded Matt, just as Sara stopped her drinking. She let out a satisfying sigh.

"Man! That is good wine! Mind if I bring the bottle?" said Sara. Perhaps if the wine wasn't so great she would have expected stares. However, the wine was good that no one seemed to think of her action as strange.

"Go for it." said Matt as she stood up. He watched her walking towards the kitchen. He let out a sigh, the kind of a stupid guy.

"Isn't she beautiful?" he said with a "I am in dream world" voice. Alexis giggled.

"So you like Sara?" Alexis asked.

"What's not to like. She is pretty, smart, and in the same field I am! How lucky can I get?" he asked. Then Sara came back with the rather-large wine bottle and set it on the table.

"Ooh, serve some more of that wine." said Jaden and everybody put their wine glass near it. Sara groaned as she served wine to everybody. Everybody took a sip.

"So what exactly is there in Duelist Academy that archeologist could want?" asked Alexis.

"We are looking for some ruins of an ancient tribe." said Artemis as he took a big sip of his wine.

"What so special about this tribe" responded Jaden, taking a big sip of the wine, similar to Artemis.

"Well they come from Egypt, that's pretty far away. Not to mention they also tried using some Shadow Magic." said Sara, and just as she said the words "Shadow Magic", Jaden, Christy, and Alexis looked at each other. "What?"

"We had some… trouble with Shadow Magic before." said Alexis.

"So it is true." said Cain from out of no where.

"What's true?" asked Sara.

"Well, word on the "street" is that a decade ago there was some incident with "Shadow Magic" resulting in the disappearance of a person, and the possibility of a disappearance of a teacher." said Cain.

"Tyriel Stone." said Alexis. The Millennium Key showed glow for a couple of seconds.

"What?" asked Cain.

"That is who "disappeared". What do you mean by 'word on the street'?" Alexis asked.

"So you knew him? I heard he had some sort of Egyptian background?" asked Cain.

"Egyptian you say?" said Matt looking at Artemis. Artemis gave him a signal to stop.

"Yes, he had some Egyptian background I believe, can we not talk about it?" said Alexis, then finished her wine glass. "Can you serve some more wine?"

"Yeah, sure." said Matt as he grabbed the wine bottle and served wine on Alexis' glass. Just as he did, she took a big drink.

"Hey Matt, give me some wine." said Jaden putting his glass. Matt groaned, and served Jaden the glass of wine. He started to drink then there was silence. They had run out of things to say.

"Hey, I will be right back okay?" said Artemis as he stood up and left the room.

"Umm… Jaden, you up for a drinking game?" said Matt, to avoid the silence.

"What?" asked Jaden.

"You know, a drinking game. Like, who can finish a glass of beer first?" said Matt.

"Yeah, sure why not." said Jaden.

"Ha you are gonna lose." said Matt.

"You are awfully confident. What makes you so sure you won't lose?" said Jaden.

"You don't look skilled at it. " said Matt.

"Neither do you but you don't see me saying you'll lose. So are we gonna use the wine?" said Jaden.

"Hmm, that would be tasty, but this is some good wine, let me just get some two can of beers." said Matt as he went to the kitchen. Alexis finished her glass of wine. She was starting to feel a tad light headed. _Wow… that's a powerful wine. _Matt came back and threw Jaden a beer. Jaden almost missed it.

"Okay, any bets?" asked Matt.

"My money is on you Matt." said Sara as she chugged her wine. She winked at him. He smiled.

"Alright. Open the beer." said Matt as he opened his beer. Jaden opened his too. "Okay, on 3. One, two, THREE!" Then they started chugging down the beer. The friends cheering for one or the other. Matt finished first as he placed his beer on the table. Jaden quickly finished after.

"Ha I told ya. Haha" said Matt, who looked at shaky. Alexis could tell that the alcohol had gotten to him. She served some more wine on her glass.

"Here, I wanna try." said Sara as she stood up. "I will get the beers." She quickly ran and grabbed four beers.

"Why four?" asked Matt. Then Sara gave Jaden a can.

"Its more fun when there is more people." she said with a smile.

"Why four and not three though?" said Matt.

"Alexis, come on down." said Sara

"What?" Alexis was a tad confused because of her light-headedness.

"Come, you are gonna play. You have to at least try." said Sara.

"Okay, whatever." said Alexis as she stood up and grabbed the can. Everybody opened their beers.

"Ok, are you all ready? On three, one, two THREE!" shouted Matt as they all started drinking. Sara held her beer totally upside-down. She was the first finish and place the beer on the table. Seconds after by Matt, then Jaden, and lastly Alexis.

"I want a hiccup rematch. " said Matt, in a drunk kinda voice.

"Hiccup you are on" said Sara in the same voice, as she walked towards the kitchen, shakily. She walked back, and almost tripped but managed to get her balance back. She brought six beers rather than four.

"Oops, I brought hiccups two too many." said Sara

"Guys, I am hiccup out." said Alexis.

"So what do we hiccup do with these extra hiccup beers?" said Matt.

"How about hiccup Alexis and Cain try hiccup it?" said Sara. Alexis looked at each other and thought _why not?._ They both played their own game. They got the beer and shared the same count.

"I will Hiccup join ya" said Christy who apparently had taken more wine glasses while everyone was busy watching the other play a drinking game.

"On Three, one, two, three!" said Matt and they all started chugging down the beer. This time, however, Matt won. Followed by Jaden, then Christy and Sara. And Alexis beat Cain in their game.

"Again Hiccup again!" shouted Sara, as she ran down to the kitchen to get more beer. However as she was coming back, she tripped and knocked Matt against the three-person sofa. He was laying down, with Sara on top of him. Both of were too drunk and fell asleep.

"Guess hiccup we win!" shouted Jaden as he tumbled towards the small sofa Christy was sitting on before she stood up. Just as he fell to the chair, he fell asleep.

"Great hiccup huh Alexis?" said Christy, without noticing that Alexis was already on the floor, lying on the floor next to Cain. "Just hiccup great." Christy finally tumbled down, falling on Jaden's arm. As a reflex, he held her tight as they all slept.


	4. Ceremony

A/N: You are actually gonna watch Chobits and Love Hina? That's awesome lol. Its great humor. Anyhow, following the trend of the last chapter, this one is also long too! Yay me! Also, Do you all think I need a Beta? Are the mistakes that bad? I could get one, but only if you( the reader) feel needed, in any case, here's the update.

Chapter 4.

Artemis walked around the school courtyard, heading back to his room when he noticed a door opening and voices coming out.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow Chancellor" said the voice as the sound of a door closing appeared. Artemis looked around trying to find the source of the voices. He ran about the building and stumbled upon the source of the voices: Syrus and Bastion. _I wonder what they are doing there _thought Artemis as he watched them walk. Bastion sighed.

"Those guys owe us." said Syrus.

"Indeed." said Bastion.

"Owe you what?" asked Artemis from behind. They both quickly turned around in surprise.

"Artemis, is it?" asked Bastion.

"Yes, so what were you saying about we owing you?" he asked in a suspicious tone.

"Well, when were heading towards Matt's "Party" we noticed Chancellor Shepard was coming. Then it hit us. It was obvious Matt was going to bring alcohol, and since it is prohibited in campus, you all would probably forced to leave." said Bastion

"So we decided to distract Chancellor, which wasn't that hard. He had 10 years worth of stuff to talk us about…" finished Syrus with a groan.

"Wow, hey I appreciate it. I guess we do owe you one, if you ever need thing let me know 'kay?" said Artemis with a smile.

"Yeah, no problem. Is the party still going?" asked Syrus.

"I am not sure. What time is it?" asked Artemis

"11 PM." answered Bastion

"Eh, I doubt it by the way things were before I left, but if I am wrong I will come get you guys 'kay?" said Artemis.

"Alright. Thanks" said Bastion

"No, thank you." said Artemis as they went their different ways.

…

Artemis made it to Matt's room. He noticed it was awfully quiet. As he entered he noticed the lights were on, but everyone was sleeping. Artemis sighed. He turned off the lights and went to his bedroom. He pulled some sheets and put them over the sleeping folks. He put the first one on top of Sarah and Matt, then second one on top of Jaden and Christy then last one was going to Alexis and Cain. _Good thing they fell asleep so close, not enough sheets to go around _thought Artemis then the Millennium Key caught his eye. _Hmm _thought Artemis as he slowly moved his hand and grabbed the Millennium Key. Just as he did a bright light appeared from it. Then two rays of light came from the key. One hit Artemis directly in the forehead, the other one hit Alexis's forehead. Just as the Artemis touched Artemis, he collapsed in the floor.

…

Artemis opened his eyes and he noticed everyone around was worried. However he didn't know where he was. He looked around noticed it was pure darkness except for his friends and everyone at the party. The most attention grabbing part, however, was what in front of him. It seemed to be a glass wall, and in the other side there seemed to be a cloaked figure. The cloaked figure had a black cloak which looked like it had seen better days. It was lots slashes, and scratches with holes in several parts of it. However, what was more impressive was what he was facing. It seemed to be a humongous dragon standing in front of him, roaring trying to show who's the big person in the arena.

"We have to save him some way!" shouted Sarah.

"We can't. We can only hope Tainted Justice can make it." said Alexis as she put her hands on the wall.

Artemis looked at them, and assumed Tainted Justice was the cloaked stranger. _That's an odd name… _thought Artemis then he noticed Dragon's head was tilting up. He was preparing to make his initial and, most likely, final blow. As his mouth was engulfed in fire, he quickly dropped it facing the cloaked stranger, then blasting him.

"NO!" shouted Alexis then it all turned dark.

….

_Where am I? _wondered Alexis as she looked around it. It was all darkness. _Last thing I remember was the party … _thought Alexis then it all cleared up and she looked around it seemed like a wasteland but then she heard a familiar voice.

"Alexis, watch out!" said the voice. Alexis looked around and saw Cain. However then she noticed a strong dark blast heading her way. She clenched her fist and try to cover her face from it and she closed her eyes. Then she heard the blast hit something else. She opened her eyes once more and saw a cloaked figure had taken the blast. It was shouting in pain. Then the blast stop and the figure collapsed. Alexis walked closer to the figure but then everything turned dark again.

…

Christy slowly opened her eyes with a yawn, however the pain soon came. She had a horrible headache. _Great… a hang over. _thought Christy. Then she started to realize where she was. _I must be in Matt's apartment, looks like everybody got wasted _thought Christy then she started to realize that someone's arm were around her. She looked to the side to find a sleeping Jaden. She then realized she must have been asleep with him the whole night. She blushed a tad and smiled. _He's so cute when he sleeping _thought Christy as he looked at him. _Probably won't get another chance to do this so might as well do it _thought Christy as she quickly give a small kiss on the cheek. She moved his hands from her and Jaden still remained fast asleep. She stood up and notice the others were still asleep. She noticed Sara and Matt on the sofa. She smiled, then she noticed Alexis with Cain in the floor. _Didn't saw that coming. _thought Christy. Then he looked at Artemis. He was different. It looked like if he had fainted and fell back. Christy was about to help him but he started to murmur words.

"Drown…my head." said Artemis in a blur.

"Are you awake?" asked Christy.

"I want…to drown…my sorrow." said Artemis. Christy was getting freaked out. What was Artemis talking about. "Tainted…" _Must be having a nightmare or something._ thought Christy as she slowly moved out and tried to find some aspirin for her headache. As she went to the kitchen she noticed there was a paper on the counter. She looked at it carefully and she saw…a flier? _Oh. My. God. _thought Christy as she stared into the words:

_The Duel Academy will be hosting a ceremony for our guest of honors, because of this classes will end shorter than usual, and the Ceremony will be held at 1. Everyone is welcomed._

_Signed, Chancellor Shepard._

Christy sighed. _Oh hell _she thought. She turned around and saw a clock hanging on the wall. It was 10 A.M. She sighed in relief. She had time to wake them all up, tell them and what not. She took the aspirin tablets, then filled 2 glasses with water, and picked a couple of aspirin tablets. She quickly shook Jaden up so he would wake up. Then as soon as he started opening his eyes, she went to wake up Alexis. She shook her. She seemed to be in a daze. However, just as she realized she was lying next to Cain she immediately moved to side in surprise. Her face immediately blushed in embarrassment. Christy was trying hard from laughing, she only smiled. A smile that said it all. Alexis looked at her, with a tad of anger-like expression. Christy still kept her grin. She grabbed the water glass, aspirins and handed them to her.

"That might help you out." said Christy, still keeping her grin.

"Stop your grinning." said Alexis as she grabbed the aspirin and water. "Thanks."

"What's going on? Uhh my head hurts." said Jaden

"Quit your blabbering, here." said Christy as she handed them the water and aspirin.

"What's the rush?" asked Alexis.

"This is." said Christy as she handed the paper to Alexis.

"Oh." was all she said. Maybe it was the dazed feeling, or that she was having a hangover, but the paper didn't seem to "click". There a couple seconds of awkward silence until it finally did.

"Oh!" said Alexis in realization.

"I don't care what it is, I am going to sleep." said Jaden as he closed his eyes and looked the other way.

"Alexis, are you done with your water?" asked Christy

"Yeah, why?" asked Alexis.

"Can I see the glass for a second?" she asked and Alexis handed her the water glass.

"Thanks." said Christy. Then she threw the whole glass of water at Jaden. He immediately woke up and shook his head to get rid of the water.

"What was that for?" asked Jaden

"We have to get ready. Its in two hours and you two are still sleeping. Now the only thing left is Cain. He is not technically a duelist from the Duel Academy, but he did came here as one. What do you think Alexis? After all, you did sleep with him." said Christy, grinning toward the end.

"I DID not…well I did…but not how you say it… damn you." said Alexis, with a tad of anger in her voice. Jaden sighed.

"Well, I have to go to the little duelist's room, I'll be right back." said Jaden as he stood up and went to the bathroom.

"At least I didn't sleep with my ex." said Alexis to Christy. This caught her off guard.

"I…I… Grr!" said Christy, angry that she was caught off guard.

"Hey can you keep it down, we are trying to sleep here." said Matt, semi subconsciously.

"Yeah." agreed with Sarah, as she snuggled under the covers with Matt.

There was awkward silence in the room. Alexis and Christy looked at each other with a face of confusion.

"Sorry" said Alexis softly. _Well that was awkward…_ thought Alexis.

"I think we should get back to our own rooms." said Christy, softly.

"Yeah, I will come by your room in a hour okay?" said Alexis, in whisper.

"Okay, bye." said Christy.

…One Hour Later

Alexis arrived at Christy's door. She knocked on the door several times.

"Hey Christy you there?" said Alexis as she knocked on the door. A couple of seconds later, Christy opened the door. She had cleaned up pretty well. If you saw her, you wouldn't know she had hangover or had been drinking. She didn't even smell like alcohol.

"You ready? We gotta go soon, Chancellor Shepard wants us earlier, being the guests of honor and what not." said Alexis.

"Yeah, I am ready. Let's get Jaden first." said Christy. They left the room walked to Jaden's room.

"So why were you sleeping in his arm?" said Alexis. Just thinking about made Christy blushed.

"I dunno, maybe I was too drunk or something. What about you?" said Christy.

"Yeah, I think the same." said Alexis.

"Well its not like he is your ex. You could go for him." said Christy.

"I don't know." said Alexis holding the Millennium Key.

"You just have to let it go. I don't know of he is alive or not, but the area of the Shadow Realm we were in 10 years ago was unstable. That's the only reason we could be in it. When we left, it became stable. All the forces of shadows were probably full force, ready to rip Tyriel's and Magnus' souls to shred." said Christy. Towards the last part, the Millennium Key started to glow as Alexis held it tighter. Christy noticed it.

"But who knows? Maybe he found a way to avoid the shadows… its just not too likely." said Christy.

"Maybe…so do you still talk to Aqua Spirit?"

"Well she appears at time, and once in a while we do talk." said Christy. Then they arrived at Jaden's doorstep. They knocked on the door several times till they heard Jaden's voice.

"Coming!" said Jaden. About minute or so later he opened the door. He had cleaned himself up rather nicely, but his breath still smelled like alcohol. Christy quickly searched through her pockets and handed Jaden a mint.

"We cant give these new duelist the impression that drinking will help your dueling skills." said Christy with a smile.

"Alright, let's go." said Jaden as they walked to towards the stage were the ceremony was gonna be held.

…

It was rather large stage with a big crowd of young duelists. Chancellor Shepard was using the mike, saying a speech on the greatness of dueling and what not.

"…and without further ado, I present you the alumni! Each one will come, tell you all about themselves, their deck type, and some advice. Let's start with Christy Pichu!" said Chancellor Shepard. Christy went to the mike.

"Well, hello. My name is Christy Pichu, I am 25. When people first hear about me they think I play Pokemon, and that my favorite pokemon is Picachu. I usually smack 'em at the back of the head, and tell them I play Duel monsters. I run a mixed deck, cant really be descriptive on what type exactly, but I think if you run what you feel comfortable with, you will do the best and that's all I got." said Christy, a couple of duelist laughed at her Pokemon joke.

"Very good, now how about you, Alexis Rhodes?' said Shepard as he called Alexis to the stage.

"Well my name is Alexis Rhodes, also 25, I love dueling, its great. It's like my life almost, been playing since I was a little girl. It used to relax, and grant me fun. However, 10 years ago, I learned that there's more to dueling than just having fun. You need the skills to win, and if you lack em, you can get stuck in dark place with no return. Isn't that right Chancellor Shepard?" said Alexis, the chancellor wanted the thing to stop now. He knew what she was talking about and didn't like it one bit. "I run a "dancing" theme deck, with cards such as Etoile Cyber and Cyber Blader. That's all I got." said Alexis as she left the stage.

"Well… that was something…next up is Jaden Yuki!" said Chancellor Shepard. Jaden walked to the stage.

"Hey folks. My name is Jaden Yuki, I love dueling too! I can't get enough of it." Christy made her hand into a fist. "Anyhow, I run a Elemental Hero deck, works out awesome, especially when I get E. Hero Elixer. Now for a tip umm…" Jaden started to think then he said the first that came to mind. "Remember, teenage drinking is very bad." Christy, Alexis, Bastion, Syrus, all smacked their foreheads.


	5. Cain's past

A/N I decided to put the names of Chapter from now on. Yay. Anyhoo, for my 2 reviewers who are watching Love Hina and Chobits and decided its garbage for its perverted humor…what can I say? I mean I guess Love Hina goes a tad too much and since you are a girls… I doubt you like those… but don't discard Chobits just like that. Behind its perverted humor is a symbolic story. Lastly, either next chapter or the one after that will have a Major Radical Change in setting. Thus, I hope you didn't forget the dragon in chapter 3( which I know the description work out too well. I will put a link to a pic of it) One last thing (lol): For those of who don't play as much and don't know the card effects… I'd recommend using www(dot)Netrep(dot)com. It has all the cards, just type in the name and there you go.

Chapter 5- Cain's Past

The ceremony lasted for a couple of hours, and day was still bright. Alexis decided to walk to her favorite spot, near the lighthouse. She stood there, and watch the waves hit the shore. As the waves crashed into shore, making a loud splash, they receded back to the water and started it again. The sight of it calmed her. She sighed. It had been a long day. She sat down, and lied back on the wall of the lighthouse. She let the sounds of the waves sooth her as she closed her eyes. _It's so…_ was starting to Alexis.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said a voice. Alexis quickly opened her eyes. She looked around and saw Cain sitting next to her, watching the waves smashing upon the shore. He was wearing jeans along with a red, buttoned, shirt with a white t-shirt under.

"Cain? What are you doing here?" asked Alexis.

"Not very kind leaving a poor fellow alone with a lot of people he is not very acquainted with." said Cain. Alexis assumed he meant about her leaving him there.

"I am not very acquainted with you either." said Alexis with a smile.

"True, still… I feel more acquainted with you than them other fellows." said Cain, grinning.

"I barely even know you though." said Alexis.

"What do you want to know?" said Cain.

"Well telling me who you actually are would be nice. Who is Cain?" asked Alexis.

"Well my full name is Cain Ferno. Been dueling for a quite awhile. I always wanted to get into the academy…but things got in the way." said Cain as he scratched the back of his head.

"What things?" asked Alexis. Cain sighed

"Well, my parents could have never afforded D.A. Even if they wanted to, they wouldn't have."

"Why not?"

"My family wasn't the best economically. They needed me back there. I worked many jobs back then. I would usually give my family 90 of what I made, and keep 10 to myself. It wasn't much, but it kept me from giving up on Duel monsters. Duel monsters kept me from giving up. Not just in work, but in living. It kept my blood going, and it kept me alive. I don't think I would be here without them…" Cain took a moment of peace, sighed, then continued. " I would usually try to buy fire cards, Dad always said I looked like a fire-head. I had managed to train, every break I had. Once in a while I would go to some contests, and win nice cash money." said Cain. Alexis was speechless. It was a tad inspiring but really sad. Cain noticed her silence, so decided to go on. "Of course, things don't get better. Once my family noticed the "easy" cash I made. They wanted to abuse it."

"Abuse it? What do you mean?" asked Alexis

"Well they saw I got good amounts of cash "relatively easy" so they thought they could score lots of money with it. At first, it wasn't a bad thing. As a matter of fact, I loved it! My family was actually supporting on me something, and letting me play my favorite game. They supported so much they made the 10 I kept into 40 as long as I spent it on cards. I was so happy. At one point, I already had a base of the deck I wanted, and just kept better cards to support the theme. I got to go most, if not all, competition it was great…unless I lost. Every time I would lose I would get severely punished." said Cain. He turned around so his back was facing Alexis then he grabbed the button of both shirts and pull them up to his neck. Alexis was shocked. Cain's back had several scars. Not all the scars were the same. Some of them looked like cuts. Most of the cuts were short ones, however there were was a few that were rather long, extending from one side of the back, to the other. Most of the scars in general, though, looked like beatings from something. "Mostly a belt buckle. A family heirloom. Funny, it has been used a beating weapon that used" said Cain.

"Cain…I." started to say Alexis, but she wasn't sure what to say.

"Here, feel them." said Cain. He grabbed her hand and put it on his back. Alexis blushed a little then she felt the scars.  
"I am sorry…" said Alexis.

"Don't be. That was a long time ago…" said Cain as he put his shirts back in order

"How did you…escape it?" asked Alexis

"Well it was actually during a special tourney that was held way back by Kaiba Corp. They were testing out new technology that made the game more "realistic". They did warn many of the players that there was a possibility of injury, however my parents didn't look at that. They looked at the prize money. It was extremely large for such a small tournament. Such they forced me to go. It was a strange tourney though…" said Cain with reminiscence

"What do you mean?" asked Alexis.

_Flashback_

"_I draw" said a younger Cain. He was wearing a customized duel disk, facing another duelist. It was the beginning of the duel and his opponent only placed one face-down magic or trap card. Cain smiled. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your face-down card. " As he played the card, a giant typhoon appeared, blowing the card away. The tornado seemed awfully strong in Cain's opinion, but he simply ignored it. "Now I play Flame Ruler!" said Cain as he summoned a crazy pyromaniac with dark tanned skinned wearing jeans, blue long, short, hair (A/N: As in long hair but not like a girls but like short but longer than short hair lol) and a rather strange cloak. His cloaked seemed sleeveless, except for the wrist. The wrist's of the cloak were on fire. The cloak itself was red, broidered with blue almost hinting royalty. It also was opened in the middle unlike regular cloaks, revealing his six pack. It was getting really hot in there, or so thought Cain. He was sweating, and he knew it wasn't because of nervousness. He could feel the heat from the flames of Flame Ruler. "Flame Ruler, attack!" From the rings of fire surrounding him, one of them escaped and hit Cain's opponent directly. The opponent screamed in pain as Cain noticed the fire was burning him. He begged for help, but no one seemed to help him._

_End of Flashback_

"So the card turned real?' asked Alexis.

"No, that was the whole testing. They upped the reality, making the card use actual fire. It was scary, but that's not all." said Cain

_Flashback (continued)_

_It was a different opponent this time. Cain was staring into the eyes of Mobius the Frost Monarch. The opponent was rather confident in the monarch's ability. Especially since Mobius had already done a direct hit. Cain was almost frozen completely. With such pain and cold he could not think clearly. He knew he had a face-down Call of the Haunted, which would allow to him Flame Ruler, and because of his face-down, Spiritual Fire Art - Kurenai, he could win. However he just couldn't go to far. His mind didn't let him, so he ended his turn. The opponent smiled as he declared an attack with Mobius. Mobius shot an ice blast directly at Cain, then the unbelievable happened. Cain's Call of the Haunted activated on it's own! It selected it's own target as well, Flame Ruler. Flame Ruler rose and roared victoriously. However it was obvious he wasn't strong enough for Mobius ice blast, so he stepped on Cain's other face-down, Spiritual Fire Art - Kurenai. The card activated! Cain had no idea what was going on, but Flame Ruler burst into flames and went head on against Mobius, it went through him then directly at the opponent inflicting 1500 points of damage, ending the duel._

_End of Flashback_

"Kaiba made the cards respond on their own too?" asked Alexis.

"No. That wasn't supposed to happen. It was a bizarre event. However, it did show me the truth. It showed me that there were people who were standing up for me. Even if it is a card, I knew it was no ordinary card. It saved me. I won that tournament. With the large sum of money, I ran as far away as I could. " said Cain. Just as he finished, a rather large smashed against the docks, close to the lighthouse. Alexis didn't know what to say. It was such a crazy story, but if the scars were real…maybe it was too. "Here, I will show you Flame Ruler." Cain pulled his deck out and took out the cards and showed it to Alexis.

"Cool, let me hold it." said Alexis

'I wouldn't…" said Cain but it was too late. Alexis grabbed the card, then she immediately dropped it.

"Ouch! Why is it so hot?" asked Alexis, holding her finger in pain.

"That's another weird thing about it. It seems to burn people who grab it, other than myself." said Cain.

"Sure is a rare card…" said Alexis, a tad angry at it. So how exactly did you make it here to Duel Academy?"

"Well, when I ran away, I had to get a job. The only job available at the time was as a fire technician. " said Cain with a smile.

"Fire technician? Never heard of that." said Alexis, confused.

"Well, its an inside joke. I worked as many things. I worked as smith's aid. He taught how to make some swords. He even taught to use them. With that knowledge, I also worked on my break as a "Fire Eater".

"Fire eater?" asked Alexis with a smile.

"Yeah, those people who eat fire. It's really not as hard as you think. Sometimes the people get bored though, so I would get a pair of customized swords. They had a covering of natural carbon. So it was easy to set on fire and I would throw 'em on the air and grab em. The crowd would cheer." said Cain, smiling about his past.

"So a carnie huh?" said Alexis.

"I guess you could say that. In the breaks where I wasn't working, I would sometimes go to some bars, to hear what the old men's story were. There were plenty about Duel Academy. While most them brought reminders of my family, they were quite interesting. Such as the Sacred Beast story, or up and coming star Jaden Yuki. I always kept wanting on going there, but I guess things just don't work that way. Or so I thought…."

_Flashback ( 1 month ago)_

"_Fargo!" shouted Cain as he went to the smith's room. There was no one inside. He noticed the Furnace was off, and everything was picked up. There was note stuck on top of the furnace. It read:_

_Cain, I had a family problem. I will be gone for about 3 weeks. Just think about it as a vacation, however there is one thing I need you to do. You have to deliver this custom-made fishing gear, don't worry about the cash man, we already got it. I will see ya in 3 weeks._

_Your boss, John Fargo._

_End of Flash_

"I, obviously, delivered ran towards the dock, and delivered the fishing gear but then I noticed something weird.

_Flashback (continued)_

"_Hmm that's a weird. Such a big boat, but only a few people getting in there" said Cain to himself. He walked towards one of the person in charged and ask him about the boat._

"_That's the boat going to Duel Academy. They are holding some ceremony, all the duelist from a decade ago are going." said the men. It was like all a smack in the face. Cain knew he HAD TO get on the boat._

"_Ooh! Can I board it?" asked Cain._

"_Invitation only. Do you have one?" asked the men. Cain growled. Then he noticed someone complaining. _

"_Umm… one second." said Cain as he ran to notice a dark-hair duelist in a black shirt._

"_Damn it! I forgot my deck!" shouted the Duelist._

"_What's wrong?" asked Cain._

"_I was supposed to bring my deck for Duelist Academy but I left it. I am gonna miss the boat!" shouted the duelist._

"_Don't worry about it. Give me the invitation and I will tell them to wait you. They cant leave until they have all invitation." said Cain._

"_No way. You will just steal and go yourself." said the duelist._

"_Do I look like a duel? And even if I did, do you think I would bring my deck everywhere I go?" asked Cain. Inside, he was holding laughter. He knew both of those answers were yes._

"_That's true. Okay I will be back in ten minutes. If you are not here, you will pay." said the Duelist as he handed Cain the invitation and left running. As soon as he was out of hearing distance, Cain laughed so hard he almost choked. The only thing that stopped him from laughing was the announcement._

"_Boat to Duel Academy leaving in 2 minutes. All passengers please remain the boat." said the announcer. Cain stopped laughing and ran towards the guard._

"_Invitation?" asked the guard to the entrance of the boat._

"_Here you go." said Cain as he handed him the invitation.  
"Thank you…Chazz Princeton."_

_End of Flashback_

"You took Chazz's invitation? That's hilarious and mean at the same time." said Alexis as she started laughing.

"What can I say? I needed a ride and he gave me the only chance for it." said Cain.

"Was it worth it?" asked Alexis

"I met you didn't I?" said Cain with a smile. Alexis blushed, obviously caught off guard. Cain sighed. "I would say it was worth it. Wow it's 4 already." As Cain said 4, Alexis immediately remembered something.

_Flashback_

"_Alexis," said Christy as they were leaving the stage. "I forgot to tell you something."_

"_What?" asked Alexis._

"_Artemis had woken up. He said to tell you to meet him at the entrance of the abandoned dorm at 4:30. It has something to do with your Millennium Key._

"_Oh, thanks." said Alexis_

_End of Flashback_

"Cain! I have to go. I just remembered something. " said Alexis.

"So soon?" said Cain with a frown. Alexis felt a tad sad as well.

"Hey, I promise, we will talk later, maybe today if I see you again. 'kay?' asked Alexis. Cain smiled.

"Alright. Good bye." said Cain as Alexis ran towards the abandoned dorms.

…

Alexis made it as she looked at her watch. It showed 4: 32. _Damn it! _thought Alexis then she rammed right into a tree. She fell back in pain.

"Ouch." was all she could say. She rubbed her head then stood up and noticed Artemis was laughing. She had made it to the abandoned dorm. "It's not funny."

"It is. Sorry." said Artemis, holding his laugher.

"So what do you need me for?" asked Artemis.

"Well… so you can come help with research." said Artemis with a smile.

"But why me? Why not Matt or Sarah. They are, after all, your research buddies." said Alexis then Artemis sighed.

"Sarah is pissed off at Matt." said Artemis.

"Why?" asked Alexis. She remembered those cuddling in the sofa.

"Well, it turns out that Sarah is … different when she drinks. She thinks Matt took advantage of that. I know Matt though, he is kind of silly like your friend Jaden. I am sure he wouldn't do that. Sarah isn't so sure, so they aren't talking." said Artemis.

"That sucks. Still, why me? Why not Cain or Christy?" asked Alexis.

"Because you have that Millennium Key." said Artemis. As he said the Millennium Key glowed. " something tells me that it will open the door to the secrets held by the Exians."

"Exians?" asked Alexis.

"That's what we named the tribe. They are **exi**led Egypt**ians.**" said Artemis.

"Clever…Fine I will go." said Alexis with a groan.

"Alright lets go find the mysteries of the Exians."


	6. Love is Thicker than Time

A/N: Lots of Drabble in this one, however the most important part is the second half of it. Next chapter, the radical change occurs.

Chapter 6: Love is thicker than Time.

Jaden walked through the forest. He was bored. There was nothing to do, and everybody seemed to be busy. He sighed and sat down, leaning back against a tree. He took out his deck from his pocket and started looking at his cards. He had changed his deck over the years, but it still remained a true E. Hero deck. _E. Hero Sparkman, E. Hero Clayman…hmm what's this? _was thinking Jaden as he noticed a card that he did not recall being on his deck. He picked it up. It was Aqua Spirit. The card brought memories to Jaden.

_Flashback_

_It was already somewhat late in the day. It had been a fun day, with Jaden and Christy doing bunch of crazy things together. Right now they were at the top of the tallest cliff in Japan( A/N: Are there even hill in Japan?). It was pretty talk, took 2 hour climb. Luckily, there were no trees, it was mostly green. They started in the button, behind the McDonald's( A/N: Cool! I advertised!). _

"_You know this is most stupid thing you have come up, right?" said Christy to Jaden. Jaden only smiled. "You know the only thing that can be as big as the stupidity in this is the dangerousity. "_

"_Is that even a word?" asked Jaden._

"_Probably not." said Christy._

"_Well, might as well do it." said Jaden with a smile._

"_I am not so sure about this…" started to say Christy doubtful of their actions._

"_C'mon, it will be really quick." pleaded Jaden._

"_Okay fine!" said Christy as she got in a barrel._

"_Yay!" said Jaden as he got in the same barrel. It was awfully clumped, but it was big enough. Then Christ kissed Jaden in the lips._

"_For good luck" she said as Jaden smiled then the barrel started rolling._

"_Here we go!" shouted Jaden as the barrel started rolling down the hill. It kept gaining speed, as Jaden and Christy got more and more dizzy. Finally, the barrel crashed straight into the McDonald's wall. It was a burst that immediately Jaden and Christy jumped apart._

"_That…was…." started to say Christy._

"_Awesome!" shouted Jaden with the same dizzy._

"_Jaden…come here." said Christy slowly. Jaden slowly walked , stumbling, towards Christy. He sat on his knees as Christy got up. _

"_Yes?" asked Jaden. Christy smiled. _

"_Turn around." said Christ. Jaden turned around. Then Christy quickly smacked the back of his head. _

"_What was that for?" shouted Jaden._

"_For being an idiot." said Christy._

"_It's fun being an idiot though." said Jaden confused._

"_I love it when you act like an idiot." said Chirsty with a smile._

"_I thought you loved me all the time." said Jaden, grinning._

"_You silly idiot." said Christy as she grabbed and kissed him deeply. After she was done she continued talking. "C'mon, let's go before they wonder who were the idiots who were on the barrel." They left the back of McDonald's and went to an ice cream parlor. They both got some ice cream, and left._

"_Today was awesome!" said Jaden as he took a bite out of his ice cream. They were sitting down in a bench on the park._

"_Yeah it was great. There is something I want you to have." said Christy as he went through her pocket and got her deck. She quickly looked through it and picked up a card. "I want you to have this card." Jaden was shocked. He knew how much that meant to her._

"_Christy… I know how much that cards means to you, I couldn't possibly take it." said Jaden._

"_No. I want you to have it.. I realized the past is gone, there is no need to stay behind. Look what happen to Tyriel, he stood behind with the past and now he is a permanent resident of the Shadow Realm. I wanna move on, and you are the one only who could possibly help me." _

"_I'll try my best, I promise." said Jaden. Christy smiled._

"_Thank you." she said as she handed him the card._

_End of Flashback_

Jaden's flashback was interrupted by several shouts of frustration.

"Great… now I am lost in this dense forest!" said the voice. Jaden quickly stood up, trying to find who was lost.

"Who's there?" asked Jaden.

"Jaden? Is that you?" said the voice. Jaden turned around and saw Matt.

"Matt? What are you doing walking in the forest?" asked Jaden.

"Well I was taking a walk to relax, but I got lost." said Matt. Jaden resisted the urge to laugh.

"How can you get lost?" asked Jaden, laughing a little bit.

"It's not funny. I been stuck for about 3 hours!" said Matt frustrated.

"So why did you take a walk to start with?" asked Jaden.

"I told you, to relax." said Matt.

"Relax from what?" asked Jaden.

"Girl trouble" said Matt simply.

"Huh?" asked Jaden.

"Sarah is pissed at me." said Matt.

"But how? You guys were so…umm…like a couple?" said Jaden trying to find the right word.

"Apparently, she was just drunk and she thinks I took advantage of her." said Matt as he sighed.

"I been having girl trouble too." said Jaden.

"Is that so?" asked Matt.

"Yeah." said Jaden.

"Well…what happened?" asked Matt.

"I don't know. One day she just calls me and wants to end it and now I keep thinking about her." said Jaden.

"Girls don't just break up with you one day. You must have done something, or at least you must have done something that looks like you did something bad."

"I have no idea what I did." said Jaden.

"Maybe she just thinks you don't love her anymore?" suggested Matt.

"Maybe, but how can I show her that's wrong?" asked Jaden.

"That's for you to figure out, that's what I need to do as well." said Matt.

"Well, good luck." said Jaden.

"Good luck to you too…" said Matt as he started walking away. Then he quickly turned back. " Can you guide me out of here?"

…

"So who are the Exians?" asked Alexis to Artemis as they walked in the abandoned dorms.

"I told you, exiled Egyptians." said Artemis, as he looked cautiously through every part. "I heard there were some Egyptians Hieroglyphs around here. Can you take me to them?"

"Yeah. Follow me, but tell me why the Exians were exiled." said Alexis as she guided Artemis through the abandoned dorm.

"Well, they were monotheistic per se, unlike the common Egyptian who are polytheistic." said Artemis.

"So they were exiled because they believed in one God rather than many?" asked Alexis.

"Well, to be honest, they believed in all the Gods. However they didn't believe on them as gods, rather they were weak deities. Where there was one God that controlled all the other Gods." explained Artemis.

"I see, so why are they so special though? I am sure real Egypt be better?" asked Alexis.

"Maybe, but the Exians had one special trait that make them famous." said Artemis

"What is it?" asked Alexis as they entered the room with the hieroglyphs.

"They are known for going in and out of the Shadow Realm." as soon as Artemis finished saying the words "Shadow Realm" the Hieroglyph glowed for a moment, as well as the Millennium Key.

"Well here we are." said Alexis. Artemis quickly went to investigate the Hieroglyph.

"Hmm…interesting." said Artemis as he continued to examine them.

"What?" asked Alexis.

"Well, they look old and all, but it looks like it was used way more recently than 5,000 years ago." said Artemis

"What do you mean by use?" asked Alexis.

"I will tell you later." said Artemis. Then as he kept investigating he quickly shouted "Found it!"

"What did you found?" asked Alexis. Artemis slowly walked towards one of Hieroglyphs with the Millennium Eye then poked the eye three times. As soon as he did, it started to glow, and hidden stair cased opened.

"How'd you know that was gonna happen?" asked Alexis in disbelief.

"The Hieroglyphs. They are not accurate. The Millennium Item had flaws in them, so if you add the flaws up, it tells you about the passage." said Artemis with a smile as he walked towards the staircase going down.

"Ladies first." said Artemis. Alexis groaned as she walked towards the stairs and started walking down. As they arrived to the bottom floor they noticed It was huge. It was like the size of one of those Starship hangars in Star Wars (A/N: lol, for those of you who haven't seen Star Wars, that's really big).

"Wow! How did they make such a big places." asked Alexis.

"I have no idea." said Artemis. The room was giant. The walls were covered with lots of Hieroglyphs.

"Looks you are gonna be busy." said Alexis.

"Naw, we are. Come." said Artemis as he dragged Alexis to the enormous wall. "You see these symbols? It tells the story of the Exians."

"So what is their history?" asked Alexis.

"According to this, they entered the Shadow Realm in groups. It appears it groups had leader…" said Artemis.

"So they actually explored the Shadow Realm?" asked Alexis.

"So it seems…wait a minute…" said Artemis as he quickly examined more of the wall at a faster pace.

"What?" asked Alexis.

"Hmm, do you see those pots?" said Artemis pointing to some pots on the other wall.

"Get me the red one, its of tremendous importance." said Artemis. Alexis quickly went to get the pot but when she was back she noticed a portion of the wall span, knocking Artemis to the other side.

"Artemis!" shouted Alexis as she dropped the pot. Surprisingly, it did not break. She started pounding on the wall. Meanwhile, Artemis was in a room a lot smaller than the hangar. It was still rather large compared to a regular room however. He noticed there were more inscriptions in the room

"Artemis…" said a voice. Artemis quickly turned around but saw no one. He kept walking but the it started again. "Artemis…"

"Who are you? Show yourself!" shouted Artemis as he started walking backwards, his back facing forward.

"You want…to see…Zorgoth… do you not?" said the voice. Artemis thought he was losing his mind.  
"Who are you?" he repeated as he kept walking backwards.

"I sense it…you want to meet Zorgoth…You must enter …the Shadow Realm." said the voice again. Artemis could feel the presence of the being but could not find him.

"But how?" he asked, deciding that maybe he wasn't crazy.

"Use… the portal."

"What portal?" said Artemis, walking backwards slower than before.

"The one… in the main room." Artemis was gonna ask where and how to use it but the voice continued. "When you are in…the shadow realm…you must find…Tainted Justice." The words Tainted Justice hit him head on. It was the same person he had in that vision of his.

_Flashback_

_Artemis saw himself watching the cloaked stranger face the mighty dragon. The group was there as well._

"_Let's hope Tainted Justice gets out of this one." said Alexis. Then Dragon prepared to fire…_

_End of Flashback._

"Who is he? And who are you?" said Artemis then he crashed. He forget he was walking backwards and crashed into something. He turned around and noticed a shrine or something of the sort. There was a skeleton hanging from the wall, in a white robe. It's feet were touching a table with an inscription. As soon as Artemis saw the skeleton, he jumped back, but then saw the scripture.

"_In the name of Arkana Shyst, may her spirit find rest."_ Artemis' eyes widened. Did she… just have the exact last name as him. He quickly towards the opposite wall, in fear and shock. He started to pound it like Alexis and eventually it opened.

"Artemis are you okay? You look like you seen a ghost." said Alexis.

"I…never mind. I just found 2 things that are terribly scary." said Artemis.

"What?" asked Alexis.

"I think you only need to know the first one: Somewhere in this room, leads to the entrance of the Shadow Realm. This is exactly in the field of one person: Matt."


	7. Tainted Justice

Chapter 7: Tainted Justice

A/N: Eye have returned.

Cricket noise

My adoring fans! The cricket population has always been there for me! After a long hiatus, your favorite author (I wish), Agent Eye, has returned. I was a little upset that NO ONE PM'ed me. It took like 2 months for someone to even bother PM'ing me. It's nice to know people there actually want to read the next chapter. Anyhow, this chapter is dedicated to Hawk-Pichu, for getting me out of my Hiatus. If the chapter is crap, it's cuz I havent written Fanfic for a couple of months so yeah I need to get the gift back. Anyhow here it is!

"Finally!" shouted Matt, happily. "I thought we would never get out!" He looked around and notice in the horizon there were two people coming.

"...Like I said men are a pain. You can't live with them, you can't reproduce without them." said Christy to Sarah.

"That is so true." said Sarah "Hmm?" Sarah noticed Matt and Jaden.

"Hey!" said Jaden.

"Hey there Jaden." said Sarah, eyeing them both. It was silent for a moment till someone disturbed it. Artemis and Alexis crashed into the group, knocking them into the ground.

"What's going on?" asked Matt as he stood up from the floor. Artemis slowly stood up.

"Matt! You specialized yourself in field of the Shadow Realm, right?" asked Artemis, as he recovered his breaths.

"Yeah, why? What's going on?" asked Matt, looking at his friend breathing like that worried him a bit.  
"How does a trip to the Shadow Realm sound?" asked Artemis, with a grin.  
"What are you talking about?" asked Matt.

"I think Alexis and I found the portal." said Artemis. Matt's eyes widened.

"We gotta go now!" said Matt. "Where is it?"

"Come." said Artemis as he ran back to the abandoned dorms.

"Hey wait up!" shouted Jaden as he ran with them. The group followed them. As they entered the secret room, they all stared at the giant size of it.

"How did they make a room so big this deep?" asked Christy. "Not even the Tomb Guardians room were this large." Christy looked around. She studied the walls. Alexis also looked around. He felt her Millennium Key tingle a little bit.

"So where's the portal Artemis?" asked Matt, as he studied the room. Artemis looked at him.

"That's the thing. I know it's in this room somewhere." said Artemis as he looked to the sides. "Just don't know where." Matt went towards the wall to the left. He started to study the symbols on the wall. "Hmm...just give me a minute." said Matt.

"Are you sure he will find the portal? He looks a bit too dumb to find it." whispered Christy in Sarah's ear. Sara turned to face Christy.

"He may be an idiot with most things, but I think he should at least be able to find it...it is his major anyways." whispered Sarah back. Matt shouted in frustration.

"Damn Exians, why couldn't they put a freaking sign that said 'Shadow Realm Entrance' " said Matt. Sarah and Christy exchanged looks.

"Okay, maybe not." whispered Sarah. Meanwhile, Artemis started reading the hieroglyphs near the passage way he went. _Looks like it was a fancy burial_ thought Artemis. _But why? Why does she have my last name? Could she be a relative? _While the rest of the guys were doing things, Alexis started to think ideas. _If I were a Shadow Realm portal, where would I be?_

"Boo!" shouted Jaden from behind.

"AH!" shouted Alexis, surprised. She jumped forward knocking Cain to the floor, landing on top of him. Cain turned a tad red.  
"I...umm." he said, unsure of what to say. Alexis looked at him.  
"Cain...how did you...?" he asked, slowly realizing their faces were a couple of inches away.

"I followed...you guys..." said Cain, he too slowly realizing how close their face were. Alexis quickly jumped back, blushing. She looked at him, a tad embarrassed, then she noticed something. "Hey, what's that?" Meanwhile Jaden walked to the in the deep front. He looked at it. "Man, this wall sure is dusty." he said as moved his over it, cleaning it off. Matt looked more at the wall. _Sand blinds the eye from the flame, Shadows hide the light from the flame ?_ thought Matt as he read the Hieroglyphs. _Light the flame, the eye will see, and the portal is yours_..._hmm what's this? whoa...could it be a map?_

"What?" asked Cain to Alexis. Alexis went on her knees.

"This." she said as she cleared a little pile of sand on the floor. It revealed what looked like seven dials, all next to each other. "Hmm...I wonder what these could be.." she moved the tile farthest to the left, and it started to glow a little as the weird on symbols turned into letters. Alexis quickly pull her hand back.

"Whoa." she said surprised. "Hey I think I found something." Matt turned around and saw her. He walked towards her.

"What is it?" asked Matt. Meanwhile Jaden looked at the dust he had cleared. It had revealed the classic Egyptian eye, inscribed in the outline of what looked like a flame.

"Hmm, pretty big eye." he said, staring at the eye. He looked at the eye. The whole surfaced seemed to be glass, or something of the sort. "I should tell them, maybe it's important." said Jaden to himself as he walked towards the group.

"It's 7 dials." said Alexis, pointing at the 7 dials on the floors. Matt sat down.

"7 dials? Why are there 7 random dials on the floor?" asked Matt, confused.

"You are the archeologist, not me." said Alexis. Cain took a look at it.

"Looks like a Cryptex... but it's stuck to the ground." said Artemis from behind. Matt looked up.

"A what?" asked Matt.

"Never mind. All you need that there is a password to find out." said Artemis. "So why is one of the dials in English while the other ones are in Egyptian?"

"I am not sure, I just touched one and it turned into english." said Alexis. Artemis looked at her.

"Hmm, touch another dial." he said, looking at the dials. Alexis slowly put her finger on a dial and the same light glowed and it turned to english. Artemis started to examine it.  
"Weird. Any ideas?" asked Matt.

"It's shadow magic. Of the simplest kind." said Sarah. They all turned to look at her. "What? It is. You see," she said as she pointed to some small markings. "It will recognize the type of language we speak. Make it easier to whoever is figuring it out this thing."

"How did you..." started to say Matt.

"That's my major. Shadow magic." finished Sarah for him.

"Oh." said Matt, a tad embarrassed. _Damn, I should have known _thought Matt.

"Yeah...so any ideas on the password?" asked Sarah. Then Jaden came running.

"Guys! I found something!" he shouted, eagerly. They all switched their gaze from Sarah to Jaden.

"What is it?" asked Christy, eyeing him.

"It was a hieroglyph. It showed an eye encrypted in a flame." said Jaden. Matt's eyes widened. _Sand blinds the eye from the flame. _thought Matt.

"Was there anything covering the image?" asked Matt.

"Umm, yeah some sand." said Jaden. "Why?" Matt started to think. _Okay...Sand blinds the eye from the flame, and Shadows hide the light from the flame...what light?_ wondered Matt.

"You okay Matt?" asked Sarah. He looked at her, he smiled. "Hmm, how many dials are there again?" he asked

"7 dials. Why?" asked Alexis. Matt smiled as he counted the letters in the word Shadows.

"Ha!" he said as he touched the other dials, they all glowed and turn to english. He slowly moved the dials till it spelt 'Shadows'. Then they all glowed again.

"Matt! How did you know it was Shadows?" asked Artemis surprised.

"The wall had a riddle that told me it. Now let's see what happens." said Matt as from dials a ray of light appeared and hit the eye at the far wall. The light glowed while the flame surrounding turned red. Then the wall divided into two and they started to open like a door. It started to reveal a black void.

"What is that?" shouted Alexis. As they all stared. Then as the wall started showing more of the inside, the inside started to suck everything in the room.

"Everyone hold on!" shouted Christy as she held onto Jaden's hand as they all got sucked. They were holding but Alexis to levitate in the air.

"Help me!" she shouted as the air pulled her. Cain ran and grabbed her. He wasn't strong enough and the shadows pulled him as well.

"Help!" he shouted as the other came and pulled. The shadows growled as they did one quick tug and the whole chain broke. As they fell to the floor, the shadows sucked them in. Then it all turned dark. Then, it was like a blink of an eye it showed a room identical to the one they were in. Except this room had different hieroglyphs in some of the wall and the furthest wall looked like it had a hall, leading somewhere else.

"Where are we?" asked Jaden.

"I am not sure...but we may be in the Shadow Realm." said Matt looking around. Jaden, Christy, and Alexis's eyes widened.

"No way, we been in the Shadow Realm before." said Christy, not realizing she was still holding Jaden's hand. Matt, Sarah, Cain, and Artemis looked at them.  
"Right. Anyhow... we should be careful and try to avoid any kind of dangerous or idiotic movements." said Artemis.

"Hello!" shouted Jaden. Artemis smacked his forehead. Everybody else groaned. Then a voice could be heard.

"Damn it! He is gonna find me, gotta run gotta run." said the voice coming from the Hall. As the voice exited the hall it revealed it self. It looked like a man in a purple suit, wearing white gloves with a yellow tie and a blue collar. He also had a matching purple hat. However, he was no man. He had dark reddish orange, with elf-like ears. He had long, short blonde hair (A/N: You know, the one that's short for girl's hair, but its like long for guys), parts of his hand were divided by his long ears. He also had green eyes.

"Holy crap, that's Witty Phantom!" said Artemis in amazed. Witty Phantom looked up.

"Who's Witty Phantom?" asked Matt.

"Witty Phantom is a card...in Duel monsters." said Artemis still in disbelief. Everybody else was shocked. Witty Phantom grinned as he walked gallantly towards the humans.

"Who are you all?" he asked, looking at them. "I am Witty Phantom." He took his hat and bowed to them. They were still in shock. It was a monster, a real life monster, talking to them. Jaden smiled.

"That's awesome!" said a happy Jaden. He let go of Christy's hand and took Witty Phantom's hand and shook it. "I am Jaden. He is Artemis, she's Alexis, she's Christy, she's Sarah, he's Matt, he's Cain. So you are Witty Phantom? Say something Witty." Everybody looked at Jaden, they all had the anime sweat drop in the back of their head. _Leave it to Jaden to see nothing to talk to a monster. _thought Christy.

"Eh..." said Witty Phantom at he looked at Jaden. "I take it a couple of bulls must have hit your head a couple of times, seeing as how you wear so much red and are so stupid." Jaden looked at him.

"That was mean, though somewhat clever." said Jaden.

"So what are you? Humans?" asked Witty Phantom. Artemis snapped back from watching Jaden making a fool of himself.

"Umm, yes. " said Artemis, unsure of what to say. Witty Phantom smiled.

"YES!" He shouted. "I hit the jackpot, scored the money!" They all stared at him. He smiled as he counted them.

"Aw man, with all of you I should be able to make it Exianapolis AND be filthy rich. " said Witty Phantom

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Matt to Witty Phantom.

"You guys are my ticket out of this dump." said Witty Phantom as he pulled an Axe out of suit.  
"Whoa! Put that back...hey that looks familiar." said Matt.

"It is. That's Axe of Despair" said Artemis. "It boost a monster attack by 1,000 points." Witty Phantom looked at him.

"Not sure what that means, however, I am sure the great lord won't mind if cut your arms and legs." said Witty Phantom, as he moved the Axe threateningly.

"Whoa whoa, I am sure we can work something out." said Christy as the gang moved back.

"Yeah, I will be sure to workout how much cash I can get out of you." said Witty Phantom as he got ready to attack. _Crap, we are dead. _thought Alexis. Then a loud roar. A majestic roar filled the hall came from there. As if on cue, the Millennium Key rumbled as the roar. However, it didn't shake violently, it merely rumbled, as the roar died so did the rumbling. _What is the meaning of this?_ wondered Alexis as a figure came from the hall. A dragon , about 10 feet , appeared walking. He had a pale yellow skin color, with an unusually long neck, about 3 feet. The neck on his back had a cement covering, with small cement spikes coming out of it. The spikes stopped at the top part of the back. From there, large wings, almost as tall as him with his neck extended all the way up, came, having a majestic purple color. Small spikes, made out of bones, were at the tip of wings. Meanwhile, the dragon's legs were a very muscular. His feet only had 2 fingers each, with long nails. From his shoulder, long, somewhat muscular, arms came from. From the chest, another pair of arms came from. His eyes were pure red as he opened his mouth and growled again. He had long horn that extended from the top of his head to almost touching his neck. At his shoulder, there was a cloaked figure on it. He was wearing a black cloak, with many tears, showing it had been through some rough times. Witty Phantom turned back.

"Curse it all! He found me! Damn it! Why him? Why now?" shouted Witty Phantom, scared then he looked at dragon and the stranger on him and groaned. The dragon came close, menacingly. Everybody moved back. "Wait, we can work something out! Look, I found seven humans, how about you take five, and I will take two. We don't speak about this and we leave it how its?" The dragon and stranger looked at him. Then cloaked stranger looked at the people.

"It has been a while, hasn't it Christy?" said the cloaked stranger with a smooth voice. Christy looked shock. _That voice…it sounds familiar, yet different. _thought Christy. "And as for you, prepare to suffer the wrath of my dragon." The dragon roared.

"That dragon looks familiar." whispered Matt to Artemis. Artemis looked at Matt.

"It should, you heard a small lecture on it. It's Fiend Skull Dragon" said Artemis to Matt.

"No!" shouted Witty Phantom. "C'mon Tainted Justice, how about you take six and I will take one." Artemis' eyes widened as he remembered his event in the other room.

_Flashback_

"_Artemis…" said a voice. Artemis quickly turned around but saw no one. He kept walking but the it started again. "Artemis…"_

"_Who are you? Show yourself!" shouted Artemis as he started walking backwards, his back facing forward._

"_You want…to see…Zorgoth… do you not?" said the voice. Artemis thought he was losing his mind.  
"Who are you?" he repeated as he kept walking backwards._

"_I sense it…you want to meet Zorgoth…You must enter …the Shadow Realm." said the voice again. Artemis could feel the presence of the being but could not find him._

"_But how?" he asked, deciding that maybe he wasn't crazy._

"_Use… the portal."_

"_What portal?" said Artemis, walking backwards slower than before._

"_The one… in the main room." Artemis was gonna ask where and how to use it but the voice continued. "When you are in…the shadow realm…you must find…Tainted Justice."_

_End of Flashback_

_Could this be the Tainted Justice the voice referred to? _wondered Artemis.

"Dark Fire Blast." said Tainted Justice as the dragon spewed black fire at Witty Phantom. He quickly jumped to the side, barely dodging it.

"Not this time." said Witty Phantom as he took his. He flipped it upside down. He spun on it on his finger. "Hats can be quite magical." Then his hat turned giant and it covered him. As he did, the whole room was filled with giant hats.

"Hey, doesn't the King of Games Yugi Moto use a similar card?" asked Jaden.

"Yes, it's a trap card called Magical Hat. It hides his most monsters from attacks." said Artemis. Tainted Justice shouted in frustration and , without realizing, he commanded the dragon to attack the hat in front of the gang. "Dark Fire Blast!" he shouted as the blast crushed the hat, the group saw the fire. They all covered their eyes from the imminent doom.

A/N: Monster cards or cards that is important you get how they look like. I, being the crappy author that I am, tried to describe them to the best of my ability. However, I am no good at that, so I have provided links to pictures to the actual cards so you can get picture. Once you look at the picture of the cards, tell me if I did a good job describing it or if I didn't, show me where. I also added a Funny Quote to Live by section. So if you get any, tell me.


	8. The Chase

A/N: Short Chapter, I know, I promise next one will be longer. By the way, Fire Princess's word 'Quam' is actually Latin word for How. She might speak more Latin, although that is yet to be determined. I am glad some of you are already trying to decipher who Tainted Justice is, however I think you will all be surprised by the outcome, and maybe this Chapter will show you a good insight of Tainted Justice's nature.

Chapter 8: The Chase

The dark black fire came towards the group as it busted through the hat. The seemed to hit and just before it did everyone and close their eyes. It seemed to remain in utter silence for a couple of seconds till everyone open their eyes and stare in awe. A wall of a reflecting surface had come and blocked the shot.

"Hmm…take the hats near the hall. I will the rest." said Tainted Justice as he jumped on top of the wall. "Stay out of the way, and you won't get burned." He withdrew two swords that looked identical. As he jumped from the wall, it faded away. He jumped on top of a hat and slashed a hole in it. He looked through it and then moved to the other one.

"Matt, look at his hands." whispered Artemis to Matt.

"What about them? They are regular hands." said Matt.

"I know, but this is the shadow realm, remember?" said Artemis as Matt started to get it.

"Oh! So you are saying Tainted Justice is human?" asked Matt

"Either that, or he is a warrior-type monster using cloak for some reason." said Artemis as he watched Tainted Justice slash hats. Alexis held the key, she felt it tingle, similar to how it did to Artemis. She started to think of the wall. _I have seen that wall before…but where._

"Hey Alexis, haven't we seen that wall before?" whispered Christy to Alexis.

"Yeah, but where?" asked Alexis.

"Watch out!" shouted Cain as he pulled Alexis closer to him as Tainted Justice ran between gang at fast speed. Then a loud boom could be heard near the entrance. Tainted Justice looked at his dragon lying on the floor.

"What the hell?" he asked noticed Witty Phantom, laughing.

"What can I say? Magic Cylinder is quite useful." said Witty Phantom, laughing at the dragon. Tainted Justice put on of his swords back into the cloak and ran fast to Witty Phantom. Witty Phantom stopped laughing as he noticed Tainted Justice grabbed him by his suit.

"Any last words?" asked Tainted Justice as he put the tip of the sword inches away from Witty Phantom's neck.

"Of course. You got double trouble." said Witty Phantom.

"You bet you do! You just got Physical Double" shouted another Witty Phantom from behind the gang (a/n: I think I need a new word, it sounds like I am copying Scooby doo or something). Everyone turned and saw Witty Phantom with some sort of cannon. (A/N: I am not even gonna try to describe this, it's impossible).

"What's Physical Double?" asked Sarah, curious.

"It's trap card that allows you to copy an opponent's monster. I guess somehow he used it on himself." said Artemis, examining the current situation.

"Hey, that's Mass Driver!" shouted Jaden. "And it's pointing right at us!"  
"Indeed it is." said the Witty Phantom is Tainted Justice's hand. "So you either let me go, or your friends will die." Tainted Justice chuckled.

"This is your bargaining chip?" said Tainted Justice as he started out right laughing. Witty Phantom looked at him in confusion.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"I don't think you know who I am. Let me remind you. I am Tainted Justice, the most notorious "criminal". You these people are my friends? Ha! I barely even know them. Your stupidity has lead to your downfall." said Tainted Justice as he stabbed Witty Phantom's neck with his sword. However the sword pierced Witty Phantom's skin, he broke into pieces. Tainted Justice looked back.

"So you hid the real clone near the entrance." said Tainted Justice.

"Obviously. I know you are a cold heartless jerk." said Witty Phantom smiling. "In any case, seeing as how I am going to die, I am going to kill these humans." Witty Phantom loaded Mass Driver.

"Did I not explain this before? I am Tainted Justice, the most notorious "criminal" in the Shadow Realm." said Tainted Justice, using quotation marks with his fingers around the word Criminal.

"I guess I should explain. You may be powerful, but these humans are not. Let me show you" said Witty Phantom as he blasted a giant blast off Mass Driver. Tainted Justice raised his arm, and a wall of reflecting surfaces rose up, taking the shot.

"Like I said, my name is Tainted Justice. It's my way, or your funeral." said Tainted Justice as he walked closer to the gang.

"Leave, right now." said Tainted Justice.

"Leave where?" asked Jaden. Tainted Justice looked at Jaden. He pointed the sword in his hand at him.

"I hate your low I.Q. " said Tainted Justice. "Just get out right now." Loud pounding noises could be heard.

"Hey! I bet my I.Q. is higher than yours." said Jaden.

"You insolent fool" shouted Tainted Justice. Fiend Skull Dragon roared. "Take them away." Fiend Skull Dragon chased them away. As they made it to the hall they heard a loud, breaking noise. As they ran, they noticed the hall extremely long, with walls made of stone.

"That's the wall of mirrors." said Christy as they ran from dragon chasing them.

"That was Mirror Wall, wasn't it?" asked Jaden. Fiend Skull Dragon roared as they sped up. "Ah!"

"It's highly possible, hmm I didn't thought of that. What gave you the inspiration?" asked Artemis as they went through the extremely long hall.

"A long time ago…I played this guy…who used them a lot… his name was Tyriel Stone." said Jaden, running out of breath. Alexis stopped. The whole gang stopped.

"Alexis, what's wrong?" asked Cain, forgetting they had a dragon on their back.

"Tyriel." said Alexis thinking back. She remembered when they had entered the Shadow Realm for the first time. She remembered Mobius the Frost Monarch had shot an ice blast at them and he blocked it with a wall of Mirrors very similar to that. Fiend Skull Dragon's roar woke her from her flashback, not to mention Christy shaking her back and for.

"He is not Tyriel." said Christy as he shook her back and forth.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Alexis. Artemis looked at the dragon. All it did was roar. _It's not attacking_. Thought Artemis. The dragon immediately turned back and flew back through extremely long hallway.

"…besides, if it was Tyriel, he would have never risked us getting shot at by Witty Phantom. Tainted Justice said it himself, he is not our friend." said Christy. Cain went closer to Alexis.  
"Don't worry about it. We will find out eventually." said Cain, smiling at Alexis. Alexis smiled a little. Christy smiled. _Good, now all we have to do is stay away from this Tainted Justice character. _Then she felt her being tugged.

"Ah!" she said as he hit someone's chest. She looked up angry and noticed it was Jaden.

"Watch out, you will become hot…ter than you are right now." said Jaden pointing to the dark burnt spot on the floor. Christy smiled.

"Thanks." said Christy as he looked into his eyes. Then Witty Phantom appeared in the air, heading really fast towards them, he crashed into them. He landed in the ground sliding. His suit seemed to have many burnt marks. Christy and Jaden slowly stood up and saw Witty Phantom a couple of feet from them.

"HAHA!" he shouted. "Tainted Justice? HA! No match for Witty…ah!" He ducked as black fire ball came at him. Fiend Skull Dragon roared, a roar that could be heard all over the hall. It was gliding towards them.

"Everybody…duck!" shouted Artemis as they duck the angry dragon and watched a scared Witty Phantom run for his life. They all chase him until the hallway had ended and they were outside. They looked around. The sky was dark, with no stars. They noticed though a rather big moon that allowed things to be seen rather than in total darkness. They could see in the distance, some sort of small buildings could be seen due how flat the land was.

"Damn. Where he could have gone?" asked Matt confused.

"Quam?" asked a voice. They all turned to around to see woman sitting down with her back lying against the wall. She had long silky silver hair, with a red long flowingly gown that looked like it came out of the renaissance, and a wooden weaved staff.

"Say what?" asked Jaden as he saw the lady.

"Um…ah English." said the lady. Cain focused on her.

"Hey! I know who you are! You are Fire Princess!" said Cain, excited. The lady smiled.

"Yes, were you all the ones who were helping Witty Phantom escape Tainted Justice?" asked Fire Princess.

"No!" shouted Matt, thinking of the last time they were associated with Tainted Justice, a dragon chased them. "I mean, we saw him leave but we couldn't catch him."

"Ah, I see. That Tainted Justice, always chasing people." said Fire Princess. "He's always been like that you know? Messing with dark fire, and that dragon."

"Wait, for how long do you know Tainted Justice for?" asked Alexis, curiously.

"I known him for about seven, maybe eight years. I known him since he started being Tainted Justice." said Fire Princess. Christy and Alexis exchanged looks.

"Do you know a certain, Tyriel Stone?" asked Alexis, hoping she would say yes. Fire Princess's eyes widened a bit as she tried to remember.

"Hmm, I think so. I met him a LONG time ago. I'd say about nine, maybe 10 years ago. He was in a white cloak, I believe." said Fire Princess, thinking about it. Alexis smiled.

"Yes! So he did survive the Shadows!" said Alexis happily.

"I don't know how to tell you but…" said Fire Princess, trying to find the words. Alexis stopped smiling.

"What is it?" asked Alexis, worried by her expression.

"If Tyriel Stone is the same person with the white cloak, then he is no longer with us." said Fire Princess. Alexis looked shocked.

"What do you mean?" asked Jaden. They all looked at him.

"He was one of the first to be taken out by Tainted Justice." said Fire Princess. "I advised him against, seeing as young Tyriel was somewhat clever, but he said Tyriel's existence troubled his existence and thus Tyriel was taken care of."

"So what you are saying is…" said Jaden, still a tad confused. Artemis looked like he was about to punch Jaden.

"Tyriel Stone is dead." said Fire Princess, and as she did, you could hear Fiend Skull Dragon's roar in the distance.


	9. Millennium Key Smack!

-Chapter 9- Millenium Key Smack!

A/N: Got it done! Yay, sorry it took me so long. I was a lazy bum, and kinda had to work all on it today …sweat drop…right, anyhow, here's the chapter. Remember, since I have horrible describing skillz, links to the picture are on my profile.

"C'mon, I will take you to my home." said Fire Princess as she stood up. Alexis was still in shock.

"But…how…" said Alexis, unsure. _It can't be…._ thought Alexis

"How should I know? Tainted Justice strikes those he feels unworthy. I guess he saw Mr. Stone that way." said Fire Princess. "Let's go." As they started walk Cain walked close to Alexis.

"Hey, don't worry we will get payback." said Cain, trying to cheer her up. He hugged her. "I promise we will." Alexis looked up at him and let out a small smile for a moment. Meanwhile, Tainted Justice walked in a tavern. He looked around. It was simple tavern that consisted of a wooden floor, with wooden walls. To the right was the bar, with 5 seats, currently only one taken. To the left where the tables, with a lot of them taken. As Tainted Justice came everyone stared at him as he came sat down. Eventually they all went back to their business, keeping a careful watch on their stuff. Tainted Justice eyed the bar tender. She was wearing a strapless yellow dress with a blue sash. She also had teal-colored wings as well as long , dark blue, short hair. (A/n: we already discussed so I shouldn't have to explain right?)

"Hello there." said Tainted Justice to the bar tender. She looked at him and smiled.

"The great Tainted Justice! Have a drink on the house." said the bar tender as she served him a drink. Tainted Justice made sure the drink was poisoned.

"Thank you…Dark Witch is it?" asked Tainted Justice as he looked at her.

"Yeah, I am surprised you know me." said Dark Witch as she got the drink. She bend a little over while facing him, giving a Tainted Justice a glimpse of her chest. Some of the darkness of Tainted Justice's face cleared up, revealing a grin._ Ha, she's trying to seduce me._

"What do you think?" asked Dark Witch. _Of what? The drink or your chest?_ wondered Tainted Justice as he took a sip of the drink.

"Pretty good, say have you heard of Witty Phantom, or any of crazy antics?" asked Tainted Justice as he looked at her, his face covered Shadows.

"Nah, I usually don't pay attention to losers." said Dark Witch as he looked at him and flashed him a smile.

"You have a pretty smile." said Tainted Justice. Dark Witch let out a bigger smile.

"Really? Thank you." said Dark Witch.

"Hey, lay off." said a voice. Tainted Justice look to the side to spot a skinny warrior sitting there. He looked at the sword that looked like a scimitar. He had red short hair with a crazy looking armor. The shoes are red, with the legs a light blue with mechanic looking to them, the knee-cap was red with a blue circle in middle. The stomach area was wrapped in what looked in mummy wrap. The arms had vertical pink and green stripes while the chest area was light blue with a metallic looking. He had the same design in the top of his arms, just below the shoulder, that he had in the knee-cap. He had collar made of the mummy wrap.

"D.D. Warrior." said Tainted Justice. "What do you want?" He looked at him.

"Quit playing with my girlfriend…" said D.D. Warrior. Tainted Justice looked at him with only one thought in his mind: _Crap._

"Whatever." said Tainted Justice.

"Apologize." said D.D. Warrior. Tainted Justice looked at him. Then looked at Dark Witch who looked angry.

"Get a life and take care of your girlfriend. Something tells me she's more of a slut than you think." said Tainted Justice as he walked out. D.D. Warrior ran slashed Tainted Justice cloak, making his swords fall. Tainted Justice looked at him and jumped back, without his swords into the street, The street was dirt, although many stalls where there were selling bunch of useless stuff as well as some food. _Hmm, no swords and no dragon, this is gonna be interesting. _thought Tainted Justice.

Meanwhile, Fire Princess and the gang (A/N: Seriously, I NEED a new word, don't I?) were walking as they got to city.

"So you okay Alexis?" asked Christy one last time.

"I told you, I will be fine." said Alexis, getting a tad annoyed. Christy smiled a bit.

"There seems to be a commotion in town." said Fire Princess as he pointed towards the people gathering around. They walked in the crowd and noticed D.D. Warrior and Tainted Justice. Fire Princess chuckled.

"Haha! Tainted Justice always getting in trouble." said Fire Princess.

"Whoa! That's D.D. Warrior, that's really bad for Tainted Justice." said Artemis.

"Why?" asked Matt, confused.

"D.D. Warrior's effect triggers when he is killed in battle. Both him, and the monster who slain him, get removed from play into the Different Dimension." explained Artemis.

"Don't worry about it, Tainted Justice is smart…" said Fire Princess as he looked at the fight. "Or at least he looked smart. He might need some help. "

D.D. Warrior chased Tainted Justice around the circle. He jumped on one of the stalls and jumped quickly before D.D. Warrior slashed the stall. Tainted Justice touch the ground and impulsed himself and punched D.D. Warrior to the ground. The red-headed warrior as he got up. He slashed the Tainted Justice's cloak and couple of blood could be seen. Tainted Justice jumped back.

"Grr…" said Tainted Justice as he stared into D.D. Warrior's grin. Fire Princess sigh.

"Tainted Justice, remember…**_Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem. _**" said Fire Princess. He looked at her.  
"Thanks, I had forgotten." said Tainted Justice, as he smiled and looked at them. He stared at Alexis, then looked at the charging D.D. Warrior. He quickly jumped to the side and ran to Alexis. "I will give it back later." Tainted Justice took the Millennium Key off Alexis and as he did it started to glow.

"Wait! That key won't work unless you are…" said Christy but was interrupted by Alexis's hands.

"Wait, let's see what happens." said Alexis. Tainted Justice held they glowing key at D.D. Warrior while he laughed.  
"What are you gonna do with that silly thing?" asked D.D. Warrior, laughing at the key.  
"It's the key to victory." said Tainted Justice as key started to burn in black fire. Tainted Justice laughed as he ran straight to D.D. Warrior. The red-headed warrior prepared his big sword to Tainted Justice. He ran then just before he was in range of the sword, he side-jumped to the right, then quickly to the left, ending behind him. Meanwhile, the Millennium Key floated as he moved, preparing itself for the attack. As he got behind him, the key moved it's tip at the back of D.D. Warrior's head and twisted itself.

"Check, my boy." said Tainted Justice as he stepped back. D.D. Warrior screamed in agony and he fell to his knees. Tainted Justice kicked D.D. Warrior's side and made him hit the ground.

"What the hell is going on?" asked D.D. Warrior, in fear.

"You are watching your worst memories, combined with your worst fears. Consider yourself lucky, if you weren't D.D.'s brother, I would kill you." said Tainted Justice as he kicked him again. He walked to the bar and retrieved his swords as the crowds dispersed. The gang was in shock.

"Did you see that?" asked Alexis, in shock. Christy looked pretty shocked too.

"I did, that was…" said Christy.

"Awesome!" shouted Jaden. "Did you see what he do with the key? He jumped side to the side and BAM!" Jaden started trying to imitate Tainted Justice but failed and fell face first in the ground. Christy sighed. He pulled him up.

"Quit being an idiot." said Christy while looking at him.

"Hey!" shouted Jaden.

"So how exactly do you know Tainted Justice…" asked Sarah to Fire Princess. She smiled.

"Let's just say we met since the beginning." said Fire Princess, as he walked up to Tainted Justice.

"Nice. Although, you have to be careful with temptation." said Fire Princess.

"Yeah, good thing you reminded." said Tainted Justice.

"So what exactly did she say to him?" asked Matt to Artemis. He stroke his chin.

"Not entirely sure, something about temptation and being blessed. I know little , little Latin." said Artemis. Matt groaned.

"Just watch, they will be talking in Latin for more than you can imagine." said Matt. Fire Princess laughed.

"Nah, we will try to avoid it, right Tainted Justice?" asked Fire Princess, as he looked at him.

"Okay." said Tainted as he walked towards Alexis. "Here, thanks." He handed her the key and started walking away. "I am gonna stay the night over your place, is that okay Fire Princess?" Cain came and hugged Alexis from behind, making her a tad red.

"See? He is not so bad." said Cain, smiling. Alexis smiled a little bit. _Maybe, but how did he do all that stuff with the Millennium Key? I don't think even Tyriel could have done that. _wondered Alexis as they walked to Fire Princess's house. It was small house, with 3 small rooms and 2 beds. As they got in they all look surprised. Like always, Jaden was the first to speak his mind.

"Wait? I thought you were Fire PRINCESS, not Fire Peasant." said Jaden. Christy hit the back of his head while Fire Princess chuckled.

"You can always stay outside and get killed by the many wonders of the Shadow Realm." said Tainted Justice as he got in. The first room was simple. A Kitchen and a table with four chairs. To the far right, there were 2 doors that lead to the other rooms. Fire Princess yawned.

"It's pretty late…" said Fire Princess. "How about we sleep now and you guys can go find Zorgoth later?" (A/N: They told her about it in the way to the town) Jaden yawned.

"I guess so…" said Jaden as he started to think.

"Alright, the girls can bunk with me, guys you can bunk in the other room. Sound good?" asked Fire Princess. Everyone agreed. "Alright then." Fire Princess opened the door to the right and revealed a big bed.

"Yay!" said All the girls as they smiled and got in, The guys opened the door and noticed a smaller bed, but still pretty big.

"I will sleep in the other room okay?" asked Tainted Justice as he lied down on the floor.

"Whatever man. Your loss." said Jaden as he got on the bed. He fell asleep after. The rest of the people feel asleep.

…

Tainted Justice looked around. It was pure darkness. _Where's everybody?_ he thought as he looked around. He turned around and saw a figure with what seemed to a be white sheet on top of it. He jumped back. "Who the hell are you?" asked Tainted Justice. The figure laughed femininely.

"Someone of more power than you." said the female. Tainted Justice withdrew it his swords.  
"Don't tempt me. Who are you?" asked Tainted Justice as he pointed his swords at the figure.

"You are a funny one, Tainted Justice." said the figure as she lifted her hand from the white sheet revealing a young woman's hand. From the hand, a white ball emerged and propel itself at tremendous speed, knocking Tainted Justice a couple of feet back. "I came here to teach you a couple of things." Tainted Justice slowly recovered.

"Not interested…" said Tainted Justice as he looked at her.

"Wrong. God does not play Dice." said the figure.

"What?" asked Tainted Justice. "God does nothing for us. Not here, not ever." The figure laughed.

"You will learn that lesson, and once you learned it, you will be ready for my teachings." said the figure.

"Wait who are you?" asked Tainted Justice.

"The name is Arkana Shyst." said Arkana as she sent a beam of light at Tainted Justice. He covered then opened his eyes to find a staring Alexis on her knees on top of him. Since he was sleeping, the shadows didn't cover his face. (A/N: To clarify, he uses Shadow Magic to cover his face with Shadow so no one can see his face, but since he was sleeping , he didn't have that on). And although the darkness in the house covered some of his face, you could see he was red.

"I…um…." said Tainted Justice as he was too confused to know what to say or do. Alexis noticed his redness and moved to the side.

"Sorry, you were mumbling in your sleep and it got me curious." said Alexis, a tad embarrassed as he sat next to him. Tainted Justice sat up.

"Now that you finished eavesdropping, anything I can help you with?" asked Tainted Justice as he yawned a bit.

"Hey! It was not eavesdropping, it was on accident. Anyhow, I need to ask you…" said Alexis as she looked down. "Why did you kill him?"

"Who?" asked Tainted Justice. "D.D. Warrior lived, he just had some illusions." Tainted Justice smiled, which even though in darkness, you could see the outline.

"Not him, why did you kill Tyriel Stone?" asked Alexis as she looked at him with a frown. Tainted Justice looked at her.

"Who told you that?" asked Tainted Justice, curious.

"Fire Princess, apparently she knows you very well." said Alexis.

"Oh. Figures. Yes, Fire Princess knows A LOT about me. Perhaps a tad too much." said Tainted Justice while thinking about it.

"So answer the question." said Alexis.

"Tyriel Stone was a weakling. He was perhaps the weakest Shadow mage of them all, really pathetic." said Tainted Justice. Alexis looked a tad angry but controlled herself.

"But why? He was no threat to you" asked Alexis, with obvious sadness in her voice.

"He knew my secret identity, and I can't trust him with that. Only person who knows that , and is alive currently, is Fire Princess and that's just because she …" said Tainted Justice, not sure of what to say.

"Are you and Fire Princess a couple?" asked Alexis, smiling.

"No way." said Tainted Justice. "She is like a sister to me, so you okay?"

"I will be, just lost my way, kinda. I always expected Tyriel to live, even though there was little hope. " said Alexis as a small tear fell from her eye. Tainted Justice put his arm around her.

"It's okay, I been there a couple of times. You will catch a rebound eventually." said Tainted Justice. He pointed to the key. "Besides you have that key, you can unlock many doors with that." Alexis smiled as she stood up.

"I should probably get some rest, thanks for the talk." said Alexis. "And you are lucky it's too dark, or else I might have done a couple of things."

"Wha-?" asked Tainted Justice as he watched her go. He sigh as he fell asleep again.

A/N: If anyone wants the Latin translated, let me know.


	10. Author's Note

Authors Note:

To my fellow readers, I am about to do something that seemingly irrational, foolish, and just plain dumb. It's clouding my mind, and my heart and it has lead to me a sort of a depressive mood. I should accomplish what i wanted to do this saturday. I have cried about it a couple of time, I won't say what it is here, but if you are really interested, just give me a PM. This story, as of now, is put on a permanent halt. I might start something else for you loyals fan, but this story might not continue.

Yours Truly,

-Agent Eye

The Eye can't see what the Heart can.


End file.
